Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1999 00:15:28 -0800
From: JM
Subject: TRL
Total BSB/N Sync Live
Written by JM
*** This another story that is like 'BSB Larger'. It is sort of an
interlude to the next chapters. I am releasing this story to tide over the
readers and also to broaden some writing for me. This isn't an Internet
chat like the last one. This consists of an appearance on the MTV program,
Total Request Live. This story will consists of a little romance, I'm
sorry. I hope to have the next set of chapters out sometime next week and
look to my webpage for a new section all about 'December' soon. Until
then, enjoy and keep it crunk! ***
A New York afternoon seemed to be the perfect party for a
teenager who could not benefit from the night life an adult enjoyed. Time
Square seemed to be the dance floor and it's surrounding areas were set up
for the supposed 'wallflowers' known as the business men and women of New
York. The hazy sunlight wasn't a true abudance to the city but the central
lighting came from the MTV Studios. This large building was trapped in the
heart of Time Square, surrounded by the screams and cheers of teenagers who
searched for a way to get inside of the utopian building.
The masses inside were praying they could survive the
experience of the show 'Total Request Live' without falling unconscious.
Just the experience of being inside of the MTV Studios was blissful.
However the purpose behind the actual program was different for this
taping. The cheering teenagers that filled the main studio knew what they
were there for. The mixture of female and male fans created the perfect
atmosphere for the program.
"Hello everyone, it's a Monday... the weekend's over and my
vacation is ended, but that's okay because it's Total Request Live. On
today's show, we have some very special guests dropping by our
studios... the Backstreet Boys, 'N Sync and Britney Spears will be filling
our studios today as we World Premiere not one, not two and not
three... but four brand spankin' new videos from these artists. I'm Carson
Daly and you're watching Total Request Live." the voice was prompted
through the speakers as the opening credits began for the show. As the
camera pulled in for it's close up, Carson stood with a mediocre smile
gracing his face. Dressed in a black Armani sweater and khaki cargo pants,
Carson held his microphone up with contention. He awaited the sounds of
the crowd to die down, his smile fading as time ticked on. He glanced
around, the young girls screaming his name while the guys barked around the
studio. He nodded, knowing it was his job to pretend to enjoy the
audience's constant banter. In his mind however, the noise was soon fading
into annoyance. He scratched his slightly stubbled cheek and tried to
rebirth his smile. The noise began to fade with the help of a production
team, each sensing Carson's need to continue with the show.
"Welcome to Total Request Live everyone." Carson finally
spoke into his microphone, ribbing up the crowd for another session of
screams. Carson kept his false smile bright as the crowd began to quiet
down again. "Maybe they're excited because 'N Sync, the Backstreet Boys
and Britney Spears are here?" Carson tried to whisper to the camera,
eliciting another round of screams. Carson laughed mildly, looking at each
person within the large crowd. "That's right... we have an exceptionally
large studio audience today because we have not just 'N Sync... not just
the Backstreet Boys... but Britney Spears too and they are here because
we're premiering four new videos just for you from them." Carson announced,
knowing it was his sole duty to keep the crowd lively. He scratched his
ear carefully and grinned. "It's Boy Band mania here today." Carson joked,
trying to bring out laughter from the crowd. "Well we also have our
regular line up of videos on the countdown for you. We'll be bringing out
our special guests soon... I hear they're in the green room eating up all
the good food... but first let's start with our number ten video and it's
coming from Jennifer Lopez with 'Waiting For Tonight'." Carson stated,
letting the flashy video appear on the screen. The appleause began as
Jennifer Lopez's video dawned the screen.
The green room as not a room of feasting as Carson stated.
It was rather a room of small discussions and compromise. "I'll work on it
Kev'. I have three opening acts for my show and Innosense is a very
important one. They open before I come out." Britney said, looking
directly in Kevin's diamond blue eyes. Kevin nodded solemnly, still
protesting to have more time with his girlfriend, Nikki.
"Guys, we don't have long before we go on the air." Joey
announced, stepping into the large green room. "Are A.J., Chris, Lance and
Nick still taking those crazy photos?" J.C. asked Joey as Joey walked to
the long table filled with cuisine. "Yep." Joey gave a one word answer
while grabbing a small plate of food. J.C. shook his head, containing his
laughter.
In a corner of the room, Justin was playfully pleating his
fingers through Brian's hair while sharing titillating kisses with his
husband. Brian brushed the back of his hand over Justin's round cheeks.
His lips met with Justin's on and off, his mouth releasing soft words of
intimacy. "You're so silly babe." Justin giggled, leaning down to let his
lips meet with Brian. He adjusted his position as he sat in Brian's lap.
"I'm not... silly." Brian laughed lowly, tapping Justin's nose as they
prepared for another brief kiss. "Yes you are." Justin whispered before
his lips met with Brian's. Brian's soft, blush-rose lips caressed Justin's
vermilion shaded lips.
Justin felt Brian's small hands brush over his hair before
his fingers interlaced through Justin's cherry-dipped hair that were
accented by blonde highlights. Brian found himself giggling within the
kiss, causing Justin to pull back. Justin's bluish eyes parted to stare at
Brian as he giggled. "I'm sorry... I was just thinking about the time your
shorts fell down while in the pool." Brian laughed, trying to silence it as
Justin looked at him. Justin cocked his eyebrow at him with vexation.
"Sorry... it was funny then." Brian commented, blushing slightly.
"Yeah... it was." Justin agreed, releasing a small laugh to join Brian.
"Okay guys, let's get moving!" A.J. barked out when he
entered the green room. He received diverse emotions as he announced the
departure of everyone. He crossed his lean arms, each decorated with their
respective tattoos. He took a hostile stance, his cut off sweater vividly
giving off it's ivory glow. His let his sunglasses sit at the brim of his
nose as no movement occured. He cleared his throat loudly, letting out an
executive decision within his stare.
As each person stood from their varied seat, personnel made
a way for them to exit with security. Brian released Justin's hand as they
reached the doorway, trying to make their marriage look incuspicuous to the
average eye. Joey staggered behind, his taller frame recognizable by the
crimson hair that seem to have faded from it's deeply cherry tone to it's
new state. Britney seemed to be caught in the final leg of the group as
she adjusted her netted, brown sweater that revealed her vibrant white
halter top.
"Welcome back to TRL guys. We've already seen our number
ten, nine and eight videos from Jennifer Lopez, Missy Elliott and Rage
Against The Machine... we're trying to get things moving along and all. Of
course we're world premiering four new videos today... so we do have to
keep things moving huh? They don't pay me enough." Carson spoke out,
keeping his sprightly grin. He got mild laughs from the audience with his
words. "Well we shall keep things going and bring our special guests out.
So without further waiting..." Carson suggested calmly. The crowd sat on
the edge of their seats with anticipation. "Especially since these kids
will kill me if I don't bring them out sooner, ladies and gents let's have
a hand for the Backstreet Boys... 'N Sync and Miss Britney Spears..."
Carson announced, eyeing the camera with mystical stares.
After the words crossed his lips, an echo of screams filled
the studios as each member of the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync crossed the
walkway, causing Britney to follow their lead. The crowd's illimitable
cries were clamorous to the crew of the show. The trivial
self-consciousness the guys were feeling as they stepped into the main
studios was not seen by the camera's focused lens. Carson held his hand
out to greet each guest as they made their way through the small walk space
that was permitted to them. After shaking hands with Carson, each arranged
themself diversely.
The squeals were continuous even after the members of 'N
Sync, the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears had found space on the
semi-circular platform. The innocent stares Britney and the guys gave each
other and the crowd was almost comical to Carson. "Wow." Kevin was the
first to speak up as he heard the crowd's discord declining infrequently.
"I LOVE YOU NICK!" a shout rang from the back of the audience, causing more
screams to break loose. Nick blushed heavily, his eyes turning down from
the young, teenaged crowd. Brian nudged him slightly, teasing him with his
laughter. "Nick... I think you've got a fan club." Joey commented into his
microphone, constituting a range of laughter on the small stage.
"Well despite our audiences inability to shut up... we'll
continue." Carson joked, giving the crowd a generous grin. "Should we
Carson? The fans should have their say." Howie disagreed mildly, his soft
spoken nature fading for personal egotism. "Where's security to remove
Howie D from the stage?" Carson laughed after his words were spoken. Joey
and Justin cooed Howie from their distance. He shook his head with spite.
"Okay... well how are you guys doing? I know you just arrived here a good
two hours ago, right? In New York?" Carson pondered, glancing over to each
of them. "Yes, we just got here today... maybe two hours ago." Kevin
replied. "But we're doing pretty good. A little hungry but good."
A.J. replied slyly. "He's kidding!" J.C. bursted in, causing a rapid
giggle in the studio. "No, we're actually doing great. It's been a good
week... month... year and all that." A.J. responded with a nod. Carson
nodded with him, puzzled with his previous information. "I hear not
everything is so great on the old Jive Records Front." Carson teased. The
silence was almost death threatening. "Should we discuss that?" Carson
asked with a light, dull laughter preceeding his comment. "Hmmm, maybe
not." Joey advised, trying to press out a wild smile. "Things are
interesting... we'll say that." Justin added. Kevin nodded, not wanting to
express or review his full emotion on the national television program. "Oh
yeah, the media loves that word. Anything to report about new contracts?
Anything with your former... er or current deals with Trans Continental
Records?" Carson asked with his own human curiosity. His sublty was not
seen in Kevin's eyes as he glared at Carson. "Oh we're all just family
over at Trans Con. Isn't that right J.C.?" Chris jested, glancing over to
his shy-looking friend. J.C. released a silent stare, leaving his modesty
within previos statements.
"Things are pretty bloody in the 'Boy Band Land'." Carson
joked, pulling a small laughter from his guests. "It would seem that way."
Howie agreed softly. "I mean to clarify some things up for our viewers,
you guys aren't battling with each other? You don't actually hate each
other do you?" Carson pushed for his answers, leaving the floor for anyone
to respond to. "No, we're not fighting and we're still very close. We're
still like family. It's just something we have to learn to deal with in
this business... and it's just that, business. A lot of paperwork being
moved around and a lot of contracts being resolved." A.J. stated, giving
Carson the answer he wanted. "We're still family with each other... we're
still like brothers... we hang out and do stuff together. The media tends
to add a lot more drama onto an issue than what actually exists." Kevin
added. "These little issues within our contracts and label changes will
not affect the bond that we all share." Chris noted, wrapping his arm
around Howie's subsequent shoulder. "See... there's no troubles in 'Boy
Band Land'. Can't we all just get along?" Carson pleaded playfully.
Another round laughters seemed to seep through the lips of the guests and
the audience.
Justin glanced out into the crowd as many of the girls
tried to grasp his attention in their less than subtle ways. He smiled at
a few and gave them hidden waves, trying to stay within the topic of the
conversations. "I am glad that you guys are here as we premiere a video
from all of you. I'm sure our crowd and people down in Time Square have
lots and lots of questions they'd just love to ask you. We'll get to that
soon enough." Carson stated, grasping the crowd's full attention.
"Right now we're going to start with premiering one of the
new videos. This one actually comes from an upcoming soundtrack that comes
out... in late December, right?" Carson pondered, his eyes drifting towards
Brian. "Yes, the soundtrack is due out then." Brian nodded happily. "For
those of you who don't know... Brian Littrell here was one of the executive
producers for the album and you wrote a couple of songs for th album too?"
Carson's comment was mixed within his producer's notes. "Yes, I wrote like
three for the album. I wrote my own song... one for Don Philip, who's an
up-and-coming Jive Records act and I wrote a song for Robyn, that's the
title song." Brian responded. "I bet being executive producer was a big
deal for you, right? A new step for you." Carson brought out a
conversation that laid between him and Brian. "Yeah, it was a new feeling.
Though running around in studios for months was work. But I think the
final product... I think the final product is pretty nice. I like a lot of
the songs off the soundtrack, plus the artists... they're very talented."
Brian replied, his heavy country accent flowing. "Were their any names
dropped that you would have loved to work with? Or write with?" Carson
pondered. Brian thought over the question as the crowd listened in
silence. "I mean... I think the ones I worked with were talented enough
for me, personally. Names like Brian McKnight, Phil Collins and Babyface
were dropped, none however were able to schedule time to write songs for
the soundtrack. So we went with what we had and what we knew would make
good songs." Brian responded shyly.
"There are a lot of new performers featured on the
soundtrack... a chance for new people to hit the airwaves." Carson seemed
to flow with the right questions in the interview. "I think it's very
radio friendly... unlike where you have soundtracks that feature songs that
you can never play on the radio or songs that were just thrown on the
album. You can't lose with 702, Britney, Jordan Knight and the gang. This
album isn't just Pop... it's got R&B... Hip Hop and more edgier material."
Brian responded confidently. He dropped a hand onto Britney's shoulder
with a brotherly feeling. She smiled briefly, waiting to hear Carson's
next words. "A little bit of country with LeAnn Rimes too, eh?" Carson was
prompted well on his information. Joey shook Lance with enthusiasm. "That
was Lance's cut... the song with LeAnn and all." Justin spoke up for the
first time. Brian nodded, a friendly smile gracing his lips. "Big Lance
here was sort of shakey about doing a song with her." Chris laughed
generously. Lance blushed like a newborn. "It was a great
experience... I've known her for a bit and I think she's really talented
and to be so young too... she's really on top of her game." Lance spoke
out, feeling the attention growing on him. He brushed his hand over his
fair blonde hair, trying to rush the blood red cheeks back to their normal,
pale complexion.
Carson smiled softly, letting the crowd end their cooing of
their favorite member. "Okay our first premiere video is from you
Brian... it's like your solo effort to the world? Sort of stepping out of
the shadows?" Carson knew his boundaries, but loved the games of danger.
"I wouldn't say that Brian was in anyone's 'shadow'." Kevin was the first
to speak up towards the comment. Brian lifted his head with a far less
egotistical look. "I love working with the guys... it's just that I was
approached by the lead actress of the movie, shr requested... she requested
I write and record a solo song for the album and it just happened to work
like that. Of course I've done some solo stuff before but this is my first
actual solo song, that'll be released as a single." Brian gave his honest
response. His glass blue eyes shimmered in the strong stage lights.
Justin carefully glared over to him, giving him a timid smile that Brian
admired. "So is there like a solo Brian Littrell album in the works?"
Carson examined. Brian discharged a resounding chuckle after he heard
Carson's utterance. His friends joined him, finding Carson's comment
predictable and foolish. "No, no solo work from me. It was a one time
deal, for me, at least. I'm still going to be with the Backstreet Boys."
Brian finally uttered his reply. His confidence was met by Carson's nod.
"Don't worry everyone... there's no solo projects happening in the
Backstreet camp. Everything is just peechy keen." Carson prattled. The
laughter was once again vast yet stiffled.
"Let's not delay the wonders, shall we? Right now, an MTV
exclusive... it's the World Premiere of the new video from Brian Littrell.
This is off the soundtrack to the new movie, 'It Never Happened', due in
theaters this January. Here we are with, 'Guardian Angel'." Carson
announced into his microphone, cueing the blue screen to flash over the
monitors, presenting the new video.
The beach was in amiable harmony. The waves were settling
for the evening's steady dawn. The water's crest dipped upon the silky,
white sands. The wind blew at a soft cry over the majestic scenary. It
was not the perfect setting for a Van Gogh painting, but it was what made
the area the perfect orchestra for the piano sounds that began to float on
the winds of the beach.
An isolated figure sat on the shore of the beach, his
frosty white outfit radiating in the hazy sun's light. His head was gazing
down to the saturated beach. With a key note, his eyes lifted to the
phoenix glowing sunset. His eyes were still and linked upon the sight of
the clouds as they rolled their imperial pattern in the sky.
His blondish-brown hair was nicely done, not blowing too
heavily with the raspy winds. His creamy white sweater was set off from
his silk, frosted draw-string pants. His uncovered feet were lightly dug
into the cavity of sand that he sat upon. His eyes seemed to fade from the
bluish tone he was born with to the dawn-tinted color of the tawny sky.
His chiseled cheeks loosened as he heard the soft melody strike it's
powerful note.
You're no stranger to kindness
You've been my refuge from every storm
Constantly taking me out of the cold
Showing me the way to endless love
You're there only when I need safety
Yet I know you're always watching over me
My every prayer met by your touch
And one day, I'll see that we are one
The man known as Brian stood from his position, the wind
catching flight with his pants as they blew in the rapid current. He
squinted his small eyes toward a loving couple as they walked the beach
hand-in-hand. They were caght up within the reverie of the sunset as they
walked. Somehow they missed Brian as they came closer, their affectionate
glances moving from the sunset to each other. Brian kept a straight face
as they passed; he within his lonesome reality and they were in their world
of devotion. He watched them with curious glances.
As my guardian angel
You are what I want for eternity
The one person who holds my hand
Shows me the meaning of being a man
The angel from just above
I'm never lonely when I have your love
One day we'll have something to share
A family, my angel
Brian trodded on the beach, the cold sand rubbing between
his toes. It was an intimate and silent moment for him as he moved. His
lips uttering the lyrics of his moment. He being the only glowing figure
as he walked. He forgot the thoughts of the lovers as he came upon a more
paternal minute in his walk. He sung the lyrics of his song as he watched
a father carrying his son upon his shoulders down the beach. Brian could
see the obvious motions of the father explaining each aspect of the beach
and life with his gestures. The sand was his crib and the waves were his
lullaby. The child had the look of amusement and that of curiosity as the
father walked him down the beach; yet both seemed to overlook Brian's
appearance.
I've never been able to run away
Because you're always there behind me
My mistakes you accept and don't turn away
And you're are what I want in my family
Fantasy seem to sail away
Because you create a world in your symphony
You're Heaven sent to help me
To make me see that there is nothing I can't be
Brian raised his hand to the small family with care. He
shook his head slowly, knowing that if he reached for that aspect of life,
he would reach the glass door that separated each human from their own
significant dreams. He let the father and son continue their walk. He
knew mentally that it was their moment. He felt the hourglass of time
drift away from him as he let the sands and waves overtake his senses. His
body stayed steady with his walk. His eyes looked out to the clouded
waters as he continued to sing.
As my guardian angel
You are what I want for eternity
The one person who holds my hand
Shows me the meaning of being a man
The angel from just above
I'm never lonely when I have your love
One day we'll have something to share
A family, my angel
Brian dropped his head slightly as his minutes became more
grievous. He clasped his hands together as he walked, his legs never
becoming tired as he walked the endless shore. His eyes lifted to see a
young woman sitting on the beach, cuddling with her dog. Her ropy blonde
hair rippling with the wind. She was almost hugging herself to protect
herself and her small dog from the blistering beach weather. In another
period, Brian knew these two figures as Leigh Ann Wallace and Tyke. At
this minute however, she was another figure on the beach that seemed to
omit Brian's presence. She lifted her head to the sky as the sunset was
ready to meet it's kiss with the cloudy seas. Brian hugged himself as she
seemed to miss him walk by. She glanced back subsequently, her smile
written with perfection. She did not see Brian, but another male figure as
he approached. Their seated embrace caused Brian's eyes to fall away from
her. He knew that once again his song was heard but meant for anyone
outside of his poximity.
There are times when you're scared
There are times when you can't fight the pain
But that is what makes you my angel
Because your skies are never a shade of gray
Angel...
Angel...
You're Heaven sent to help me
To make me see there is nothing that we can't be
Brian's saunter seemed to conclude when he reached a
towering set of wooden, white steps. He took a seat at the bottom step,
not attempting to follow the lengthy steps up to the top of the rising
hill. He didn't sit comfortable but he sat as a hermit would. He was a
solitary person, clothed in white as he observed the loving actions of the
passionate beach. Whether in friendship or in love, nothing was in vain to
his eyes as he sung. The piano's composition was not futile. It's
faultless accompaniment with Brian's voice harked an angel's call. An
appreciative tear slipped down Brian's face as he glanced out to the scenes
he had witnessed during his aria.
As my guardian angel
You are what I want for eternity
The one person who holds my hand
Shows me the meaning of being a man
The angel from just above
I'm never lonely when I have your love
One day we'll have something to share
A family, my angel
The ad-libs followed this final chorus but Brian could not
hear the words. He could hear the sounds of people calling out to him.
Brian glanced up and saw friends that he knew as A.J., Nick, Kevin, Howie
and Justin awaiting him on the top of the steps. He waved and called for
him as the song continued without Brian. Brian seemed to let a blissful
smile form on his lips. He stood from his position with a graceful nature
and ran up the steps to meet his friends. When greeting with them, he
received friendly and brotherly hugs as they drew him away from the beach
that he remained guardian over. A smile did not leave Brian's face as he
accompanied his five friends on their own walk and journey through life.
As the video faded from the screen, a impetuous sound of
clapping filled the Total Request Live studios. Carson joined in the
applause for Brian as he took his eyes off the monitor. "Wow.. that was a
very well done video. Nothing too flashy or anything too special
effects-like... a heart-filled kind of video." Carson commented with the
acclamation still flowing. Brian smiled with a thankful spirit about him.
"That was nice." Joey agreed from his seat. "Thank Diane Martel for the
great video." Brian tried to squeal in his words. Justin nodded, wanting
to praise his husband without being questioned. "That's cool how you had
the guys at the end. What happened to the rest of 'N Sync? It was just
'N'." Carson laughed, losing his serious nature expeditiously. "Well it
was a conflict of time. I shot that video in the time of our 'Larger Than
Life' rehearsals and it just happened each guy of 'N Sync was doing their
own thing at the time." Brian explained, his soft spoken voice heard with
the assistance of the microphone. "We had things to do and it just so
happens that Justin had a little time off coming to him." Lance covered for
his friend aptly. Justin whispered to J.C. with a giggle after Lance
spoke.
"Now I noticed that your ex-girlfriend... Leigh Ann right?
She was in the video? Did you write the song for her? Sort of a 'Baby,
I'm sorry... take my sorry ass back' kinda thing?" Carson's words seemed to
move quicker than his mind. A strong laughter was let out by the guys,
followed by crazed movements. "No, no, no, no... no, no. That's not it."
Brian replied, shaking his head quickly as he laughed. Kevin slapped Brian
on the back with his insatiable laughing ringing in Brian's ears. "That
was my ex-girlfriend and she stars in the movie. Her name is Leigh Ann
Wallace, she's an actress. She had to appear in the video as a part of the
promotion for the movie." Brian explained briskly, feeling the red flush
his cheeks again. "That was Brian's dog she had." Justin added, not
joining in the laughter with everyone else. Brian took a quick glance back
and could see the jealousy within Justin's blue eyes. He nibbled his lower
lip and brought his attention back to Carson.
"Okay, so she was just in the video. It's not like you two
are getting back together or anything." Carson stayed on the rumourish
subject. "Not a chance. She and her co-star from the movie appeared in
the video, that's it." Brian responded seriously. Britney's scowl was
greatly noticeable as Brian spoke of Leigh Ann. She became edgy in her
seat, letting Joey observe her anger without reservation. "That's it for
that whole rumor, huh?" Carson giggled. Justin rolled his eyes and looked
out into the audience, trying to hold in his expressions of disgust. "I
hope so." Brian asserted, sensing Justin's distance.
"Ooh, we won't talk about certain things then. That was
our first premiere from Brian Littrell of the Backstreet Boys. It was
called 'Guardian Angel' and it's on the soundtrack to 'It Never Was'?"
Carson seemed to become confused in his mass conversations. He let his
blue eyes search Brian for aid. "It's called 'It Never Happened'." Brian
corrected him, seeing Carson's need for assistance. "Read the cue cards
right Carson!" Chris bellowed out, joking with Carson. "Right, sorry
Chris." Carson faultered a smile. "We have to keep moving down our
countdown and here at number seven is LFO and they are here with 'Girl On
TV'." Carson stated as the video was filtered into the screen.
After a lengthy commercial break and verbal conversations
between the guests and the audience, the show continued on another bright
note. The seating arrangement had seemed to change during the commercial
break as Kevin took a rear seating on the stage to relax while Justin
seemed to find a seat next to Brian to comfort Brian during trying periods.
Joey had managed to pull Britney closer to himself, being watched
spitefully by female attendants. A.J. sat near Chris so they could mingle
and talk about friends that were in the crowd. Lance made his appearance
less joyful as he moved closer to the window to experience the real life
fans that were struggling in the stiffly cold streets of Time Square.
Carson was not distressed by the moving of the guests, just inquisitive as
to why they took the positions where they chose.
"We're back here on Total Request Live... I've got our very
special guests here.. Britney Spears, 'N Sync and the Backstreet Boys."
Carson stated, the crowd cheering painfully. "We have many, many, many
fans here... not only in thge MTV studios but also down there outside of
the studios that have questions for the guys. I mean questions galore. So
we're going to take two from here and then one from outside before we go to
our number six video." Carson explained, making sure that his guests
understood the process. He received a unison of nods.
"Okay.. our first question comes from Alicia from Atlanta.
Alicia?" Carson searched the crowd as he spoke. A yong girl, no older than
seventeen stood with a microphone in her hand. She was not nervous, yet
confident in her stance. "What's your question for the guys or Britney,
Alicia?" Carson pondered. Alicia smiled towards each of them before
raising her mic. "Uhm yeah, I first want to say I love you guys. I think
you're all really great and I hope that you have continued success." Alicia
commented with a bubbly smile. "Thank you." Kevin replied. "That means a
lot to us... especially coming from our fans." A.J. added. "And a pretty
one like you too." Chris chimed. Alicia giggled with slight embarassment.
"Okay my question is... well I know there's been a bit of controversy with
this, so I wanted to know if the whole article by Brian's ex-girlfriend in
Entertainment Weekly is effecting you? Do you feel like it exposed you?
Or did it take away a lot of your credit in your own eyes?" Alicia spoke
clearly and with little hesitance towards the subject. The question was
thought over by each of them, carefully judging their own words and
reality. "I don't think it discredited anything. You're going to believe
what you're going to believe, but on the otherhand there is always two
sides to a story. You should always hear both before making judgements."
A.J. stated. "The interview was rather blunt and to the point. I'm not
sure if that's how the reporter wanted it or if that's how Leigh Ann
wanted, but still it was in ways truthful and in other ways not truthful.
What was said was probably said out of spite, and it was rude and rather
wrong." Kevin commented.
"But I mean you guys have to get some sort of backlash for
it, right? Whether it was true or not, a lot of things are put into
question not only for the media, but for the public too. How do you handle
something like that? Especially for you Brian, it practically throws your
love life and you out for everyone to observe and disect." Carson
interrupted the responses with his own sentiment on the subject. "Yeah, it
does put a lot of us out to question. She sort of fed us to the sharks and
I thought that was sort of uncool." Nick agreed with a mature voice. "She
kind of twisted the truth in her own ways, I think." J.C. commented. Nick
nodded, looking over to J.C. "She put me out as being this 'freak of
nature' or something. She exposed my sex life and all of that... it's like
she had some sort of vendetta as an ex-girlfriend and that's hard to
credit. That's hard to say... 'Okay, yeah, that's right. You're still
cool though.' Because that really takes away from the truth. If I wanted
anything about my life said, I would have told the press so they could suck
it up and spit out bits and pieces for the public." A.J. argued boldly, his
voice raising with his anger. Brian felt his time drawing near. "Yeah,
she seemed to put us on the spot, which was wrong. It hasn't been easy
just to get through, you know? You constantly have people asking about you
and what and who you've been doing." Justin added. "I read the article and
she kind of put you and Brian in a 'position'." Carson stated, trying to
raise the power of his control. "More than that." Justin sighed out.
Brian lifted his microphone with hesitation. "She lied, point blank. I
mean she made things very misconceived and then she put everyone in a
position of telling the truth or being exposed for something you're not."
Britney jumped in before Brian could. "She seemed to have a problem with
you, right Britney?" Carson questioned. "And she still does. I never
'diss' my fans. I have a life, yes, but my career comes first." Britney
responded sternly.
"Leigh Ann has her way of saying what she wants when she
wants. Me and her had our problems with or relationship, but it was not me
that brought upon those problems. I still treat her like a friend but that
interview was rather harsh and rash. I am not and never had plans to
return to a relationship with Leigh Ann. That's far beyond me. We've had
too many differences to try and work it out. I'm happy as I am right now.
My sex life, my love life, any part of my life has nothing to do with her
and it is not her business to put out into the public's view. This show
isn't about bashing her, but clearing things up." Brian finally gave his
say in a less than commanding voice. He received full attention from
everyone as the controversal topic drew on. Carson's eyes seemd to be
surprised by Brian's unexpected speech on the situation.
"Our next question comes from Tony. Tony? From Illinois?"
Carson once again searched the crowd. A man of twenty-three stood up, his
smile resembling that of a popular boy at school. "What's your question
Tony?" Carson asked promptly. "Yeah, my question is for Britney. First I
wanted to say you're really hot and I was wondering if you planned on doing
any new stuff for your next album? Another look? Something sexier?" Tony
was blunt and brute with his question, trying to draw all of Britney's
attention. He was able to draw Joey's full focus to him. Britney lifted
her microphone with nervousness and anxiety. "A sexier image? Well my new
album is called, 'Just Britney'. So that's what it'll be... just me. I
won't and don't ever plan to change that. So if I'm not uhm, 'sexy' to you
now, then I probably won't be for the new album. I'm not changing
anything." Britney responded casually, but yet nervously. "We'll talk more
about Britney's upcoming album in just a few minutes." Carson commented,
hearing his producers through his ear transmittor.
"We're actually now going to go downstairs to Mindy who has
a question. Eh Mindy, what's your questions for Britney and the guys up
here?" Carson asked. The view of the young fan in the street popped up on
the studio monitors. "Hi Carson, hi Britney, 'N Sync and Backstreet. My
question is are any of you single... and if not, who are you seeing right
now? Is it serious or not?" Mindy's words came out fervantly. Everyone
gave their own small laugh to the commonly asked question. "Good question.
Well guys?" Carson turned to them with his powerful, puzzled glare. "I'm
single." Lance bellowed out first. "I'm dating someone." Howie replied
shortly. "Dating." Chris agreed with a nod. "Whom?" Carson dared with
them. He could see Chris and Howie's anxiety forming in their brown eyes.
"Well Carson, I'm dating Jennifer Love Hewitt, you didn't hear?" Chris
responded sarcastically. Carson wanted to reply bitterly but withdrew
himself for a more cool and calm approach. "I could have sworn you and
Dennis Rodman had a thing going on?" Carson said with a trivial smile. A
rousing coo from the audience brought on the tension. "Nice one." Chris
laughed. Carson shook his head, waiting to move on to the next person.
"No, but I'm dating a girl name Kameelah Williams. She's in the
business... she's with 702." Chris stated his honest answer. His eyes
danced with pleasure when speaking of Meelah. "Uh huh. I didn't know that
one, Chris." Carson spoke up. "She's really nice." Justin commented
softly. "Chris, where your girl at?" Nick joked boastfully. "She's in the
back!" Justin laughed out.
"Well what about you Justin? Are you still... what do kids
call it now? 'Taken'?" Carson tried to play coy on the subject. Justin
laughed sorely, looking around the studio as girls watched him with a
careful eye. "Don't act Carson. You know what I said last year." Justin
snickered. Carson raised his eyebrows at Justin with moderate suspicion.
Justin continued to giggle as he grabbed Brian's hand and lifted it high.
Brian turned his head to him with surprise. "Oh Lordy, here we go again."
Carson sighed, releasing a small laugh for Justin. Brian rolled his eyes
stubbornly and let Justin cradle his hand. "I LOVE YOU BRIAN!" a female's
voice was heard shrieking from the back of the studio. "Apparently so does
Justin." Brian joked, laughing in his own shy way. Justin blushed at the
comment. "That's just their way of not telling people who they are with,"
Lance stated. Carson decided not to dwell on Brian and Justin for too
long.
He glanced over to J.C. with a humble smile. "J.C.?
Kevin? A.J.?" Carson listed names off and awaited replies. Kevin lifted
his microphone first. "Well yeah... yeah, I do uhm, I have a girlfriend.
Her name is Nikki... she's in a group called Innosense." Kevin stated,
receiving a fair amount of disappointing voices from the crowd. "Here that
ladies, Kev's taken." Carson pointed out the obvious. "So is J.C. here."
Chris spoke out, causing J.C. to groan. "Just about all of you huh?"
Carson laughed, sensing that they were not as lonely as they seemed. "Just
about." Nick nodded, smiling ravishly. "We try to date as much as
possible, but few of us actually have a steady person," Kevin confirmed.
"Aren't you dating a girl from the same group as Kevin, A.J.?" Carson
asked. A.J. looked around with a smile. "Where do you get your
information?" A.J. snickered. "I have reliable sources on the Internet.
Like fifty odd pages that say you and a girl named Amanda are an
on-again-off-again thing." Carson informed him. A.J. tilted his frames to
eye Carson with disappointment. "The Internet knows everything, doesn't
it?" A.J. tried to make light of his personal life. "You tell me." Carson
grinned. A.J. shook his head solemnly. "I'm dating... er, with someone."
A.J. responded cautiously. Carson nodded, moving on with his quest to
expose each of them.
"Personal life is kind of hard to reveal to the public
because you never know how a fan will react towards it. It can really get
ugly... including things being said by fans that's not necessary. So we
don't like to go out and have our personal lives become public... then it's
not private anymore." J.C. explained in a serious tone. "Right, fans can
say some pretty harsh things." A.J. agreed fully, his raspy voice losing
it's cheery flow.
Carson became intrigued with each of their strong stand on
the relationship issue. He watched as they gave their own comments towards
the view. "But I mean people tend to hold it over your head too. I know
that's probably the case... with say Britney and Justin... also with Brian
and his ex. They constantly want to know about the life afterward and if
you get back together with that person." Carson critiqued. Brian nodded
sadly, looking down into his lap. "I don't know, man... is it really the
case? I mean like that? For real. Because with me and Brit', everyone
still thinks we're together. I don't think they hold it over my head as
much... per-say, as they do with Britney." Justin infused. He looked
passed Brian to stare at Britney. She pushed her honey blonde hair back
with frusturation. "People... I think more of like 'N Sync's fans want to
know. With my fans, it really doesn't matter to them, you know? I mean
they don't care. So I'm stuck explaining to 'N Sync's... I mean they're
fans, what's really going on." Britney stumbled out. "That must be hard to
deal with because I know you and Justin aren't an item anymore, right?"
Carson seemed to flow within the conversation. His own inquisitiveness
seemed to faulter. "No, we're not. We were... long time ago." Britney
replied. Justin agreed in his own quiet way.
"So now the world knows, it's not Justin Timberlake and
Britney Spears anymore. It's actually... Britney and Joey, huh?" Carson
kept his eyes direct on Britney. "Yeah, it is. Uh oh, I better watch out
now." Joey laughed, trying to make the air of the studio's less tense.
Britney rolled her eyes with a giggle. "I bet there's a serious strain
there... I mean with everyone dwelling on the past between Justin and
Britney instead of you and Britney, now." Carson's amateur reporting seemed
to be improving with time. "We won't go there. We're happy." Britney
confirmed for him. Joey let his eyes look away, trying to hide his anger
in the question. "We hooked up about a year or less ago? It was while we
were here on TRL that we started talking." Britney added with a cheery
tone. Carson watched as Joey's eyes glanced over to Justin. He wanted to
stay on the subject, but his time limitation was already running over.
Carson smiled widely, wanting to give another one of his
lightly humored anecdotes. "I feel like Oprah right now... shall we talk
about our spirits now or something?" Carson teased, looking around the
area. "We're getting in touch." Chris added with an awkward smile. "Yes
we are, Chris. Anyway, I feel like breaking out the ol' incense and the
book of the month... but uh, let's get into our number six video, shall
we?" Carson advised, hearing his producer's chastise him through his ear
transistor. He looked back to his guests with friendly gestures.
"Chris... how about you introduce our number six video?" Carson suggested.
Chris looked up with an abrupt astonishment in his round, bronze eyes.
Chris squinted his eyes over to the TelePrompTer. His eyes reopened to
their natural wideness, matching that of the smile that crossed Chris's
lips. "Coming in at number six today is 702... with my baby girl,
Meelah... what's up Misha and Irish... they are at number six with their
song, 'Gotta Leave', here on Total Request Live." Chris announced loudly.
Chris stood up and clapped loudly as did the audience when the video formed
on the screen.
As the video played on, Justin leaned over to Brian while
he watched the video. "People seem to really be into our personal lives,
eh?" Justin commented softly. Brian nodded with sorrow. "You know you're
little joke is going to get us into trouble with people." Brian laughed
lowly. Justin smiled and pulled back. He looked out into the fans,
watching some eye him and Brian as they talked. He waved to a few to
settle their edginess.
The video was cut short to spare time on the show. "That
was our number six video, coming in with their highest debut was 702 with
'Gotta Leave'. The girls toured with the Backstreet Boys, right?" Carson
once again started with a question. "Yep... they toured with the BSB over
in Europe." Howie replied. "That's pretty cool. They are nice girls.
Well keeping with the love of nice girls... we have our next World Premiere
and this one is coming from, none other than the Queen of Pop, Miss Britney
Spears." Carson chimed. Britney felt delighted to know the attention was
moving to her. Carson turned to her with a generous grin.
"Now Britney this single is actually coming from your new
album, right? Tell us a little about the song and the new album." Carson
entreated. Britney raised her mic with contention. "Okay, well the song
is called 'Bubble Gum Love' but it's not exactly what the title says it may
be. I have people saying that it's just another fluffy song.. but I don't
think they really heard the song. You know? You've got to listen to the
lyrics... it's right there and very confident, you know? Like it's very
open." Britney stated. She seemed to lose Carson within her somewhat
babbling words. "The song is basically about people who hate to have one
of those adolescent relationships. It's about people who want a more
mature... it's a more mature side of me actually. I'm saying that I don't
like the fluffy, bubbly relationships... I need a more grown up romance."
Britney clarified her words.
"So you have matured for the new album?" Carson questioned.
He conducted his own personal interview with Britney in the midst of the
show. Britney nodded pleasently. "I'd say I have in many ways. It's
definetely my step up into the business and me making my mark." Britney
remarked. "Are the songs still more like 'Sometimes and '...Baby One More
Time' or are they... a bit more high scale? The lyric content and all."
Carson pondered. Britney pulled a few strands of her hair behind her ear
and thought over the question. "Uhm, I'd say a little more high scale.
I'm speaking a little from experience with some of the songs, but the rest
me and my friends can relate to. It's got it's real pop like songs but
then again I go into R&B with songs like... like this one song I did with
Missy Elliott, it's called 'Baby Boy'. It's about a girl checking out a
guy she's known for years." Britney responded with confidence.
"So you're working with a new sound too?" Carson furthered
his depth of questions. Britney bit down softly on her lower lip.
"Yeah... but then again not really. The album is called 'Just Britney'
because that's what it is. It's just me, you know? I've got songs like
the old days with 'Heartbeat' and 'Friday Night'... but then I'm more
mature with 'Let You Go' and 'Across The Street'. But it's still
like... like it's still me and nothing's changing that." Britney responded
with her own definite explaination. "But there is a range and variety for
new and old listeners. Young and adult too?" Carson staggered on with her.
Britney adjusted her shirt while listening to the questioning. "Yep... I
remade a Michael Jackson song for the album... I've got more mature
sounding stuff like 'If I Had A Reason' and 'Thinking Of Us'. Then I have
stuff where it's like you love the guy so much and he's a hot one. Then it
goes to stuff like.. like when the guy or girl just doesn't understand how
you feel. It's universal I think." Britney stated. Carson nodded, finally
grasping what she was saying. "Any guest appearances?" he thought out.
Britney nodded with a mediocre smile. "I've got Mocha, she's a female
rapper. She's worked with 'N Sync and some R&B acts... she's with Missy.
Then I've got Justin, from 'N Sync, right here. He's on the song called
'Too Close'. It's a real hard hitting song in a way." Britney replied
graciously. Justin bobbed his head with the tune in his head. Brian
glanced at him with wonder.
"And production and writing? I know you said you wanted to
do a little more writing for this one." Carson drew his questions from
memory. "I did about half of it with Max Martin... and then various I was
busy with producers like Missy Elliott, Eric Foster White, Mary J. Blige
and 'N Sync. It's just a variety for listeners." Britney responded.
Carson's eyes glimmered with sudden surprise. "'N Sync was on production?"
Carson questioned automatically. Britney nodded animately. "Yeah Carson,
we did a little bit. Actually no, Joey co-wrote a song with Britney and
Justin did a song with Britney... he wrote and recorded one with her."
Chris explained. "And we helped a little bit with vocals and stuff." Lance
added. Britney smiled, content with their replies. "Joey... Justin? Spit
it out!" Carson laughed, dragging out more answers. "It was a family
affair." Britney gabbed. Justin nodded, trying to take attention from
himself. "JUSTIN!" an audience member called out, demanding a reply so
that they could lust over his voice. Justin sighed silently, raising his
microphone. "I wrote a song on her album with A.J. and we produced it.
It's called 'Let You Go'." Justin answered briefly. "Yeah, strange pairing
huh?" A.J. giggled. Carson seemed to find the joke incredibly funny.
Justin eyed him with discontent. "Joey wrote the song 'Heartbeat' with me
and Max." Britney clarified as Joey remained silent. "Writing music with
the boyfriend, that's fun!" Nick commented sarcastically. Joey brushed off
the comment easily.
Carson took his eyes aside, knowing it was once again time
to move on. "All righty then... we have our next World Premiere video.
It's number two of four. This one is coming from Britney Spears and the
song is called, 'Bubble Gum Love'." Carson stated, receiving an immense
amount of cheers and applause. Everyone's attention was focused to the
monitor as another blue screen emerged upon it.
The scene resembled that of a large, fancy bedroom in New
York. The walls were drapped in dashes of light and dark pinks. Curtains
fell over the window, hiding the inside of the studio apartment from the
world. Bright overhead lights blazed over the room, falring off the pinks
of the plush, furry carpet on the floor and the silky pink lights that sat
on each glass table that laid to the side. An array of white couches and
chairs spread across the large floor within the apartment. A small, cairn
terrier pranced through the room towards one of the white chairs and leaped
up. Her finely groomed hair was brushed auburn with black. At the tip of
her hair was a pink bow, matching the motif started within the room. She
cuddled to her master in a formal and affectionate way.
Her master petted her with preoccupied attention. Her
golden blonde hair flowed over her shoulders and barely slipped past their
softness. Her brown eyes glanced around the room before sighing loudly.
She eyed her friends that sat around the room with brilliant conversations.
"Britney! This is so boring!" one announced to her. Britney eyed her and
her surrounding friends. They were known to her as Jenny, Veronica, Nikki,
Danay and Mandy. To the world, they were Innosense. "I'm sorry Veronica
if we can't be out partying with your type of friends." Britney jested, her
smile highlighted by her gloss. "Well you know... you're boyfriend and his
friends are coming over soon." Nikki cooed from her chair. Britney groaned
loudly at the mention. "What's wrong Brit? Not looking for to a little
smoochy from your boy toy." Veronica teased her, causing the others to
laugh. "He's just so immature lately. I wish he'd grow up and stop acting
like we're in elementary school." Britney stated, releasing another low
sigh. Mandy and Nikki agreed. "Guys need to grow up... I mean we're not
kids anymore. How about a little bit of adult romance and not this child's
play." Jenny requested. "Well that's what we get for picking immature
boys." Danay professed. Britney propped her chin on her hand and looked
around. "Play the song." she requested softly.
The ad-libs began for the song as the sweet beat followed
through. Britney bobbed her head easily as the girls of Innosense stood
from their positions. Britney brushed her dog back and stood from her
chair to follow the girls to the middle of the large room. The floor was
clear of all interferring materials. Britney pushed her hair back with a
smile. She was casually dressed in a 'Soiled Brat' top that was
sleeveless. The letters were cursive and in white while her shirt was pale
pink. Her baggy, draw string cargos were khaki and roomy enough for her to
dance in. A silver choke dawned her neck with a peacock feather hanging
from it. She felt her body swaying to the beat as the music flashed in.
Come on baby
Tell me, tell me
Come on baby
Tell me, tell me
Come on baby
Tell me, tell me
Come on baby
Tell me, oh yea
Nikki ran to the door and pulled it open with surprise, six
young men standing outside with smiles. Britney eyed the one to the front
as she recognized the others as her tour dancers. Britney peered at the
lead man as they all walked into the apartment. Nikki pointed to him with
suspicion. Britney rolled her eyes and took the lead with the girls of
Innosense following her. Each group meets in the middle of the floor with
scowls on their face. Britney saw her oppurtunity and smiled. She and the
girls stepped back and began to dance in synch as Britney sung her edgy
verse.
I've never been one for a summertime fling
Something about you attracted me
Even though I was young when I met you
I'm a little bit older and things have changed
I no longer want a card on Valentine's day
I don't expect you to remember every anniversary
But I do want to hear "I love you baby"
I do want to know you're serious about loving me
Britney stopped dancing and grabbed the lead man's hand as
the boy dancers began to follow the routine of Innosense. Britney led her
'boyfriend' over to the couch and pushed him onto it with authority. She
sang her hymn of adulthood to him as he stared at her with astonishment.
Her hair seemed to flow with her head movements as she danced and sang in
front of him. He crossed his arms with disappointment as he caught onto
each word she belted out.
I don't want no bubble gum love
That ain't good enough
Boy I know you've got love inside of you
But that's something you've gotta prove
I don't want no sugary love
Because baby that just ain't good enough
I know you've got something special for me
So stop acting innocent
Britney and her dancers stopped for a minute and took seats
on the chairs and couches while the males took front. Britney eyed her
boyfriend with small distaste as he danced with the others. Britney picked
up a pink cowboy hat and slipped it onto her head, smiling loosely towards
them. She shook her head mildly, plafully gossiping with the girls. She
clapped for the guys and stood by herself. She walked up to her boyfriend
and stared him in the eyes before beginning her second verse with as much
vigor as the first one.
I'm no longer the shy girl
I have to be direct with the way I feel
Cotton candy and rollercoasters are exciting
But kisses in the morning, I can't fight it
There's always been something about you
So baby can't you tell me the truth
I no longer like the big things just the little things
Are you serious about loving me?
Britney impishly pushed her boyfriend backward and ran back
to the girls of Innosense. Each stood and they began a quick paced dance
on the floor again, attracting each's guys vision with their sultry moves.
Britney kept her body steady and stiff, not wanting to loose the cadence in
her mind nor the hat upon her head. She kept a strained look on her face,
sweat breaking instantly.
I don't want no bubble gum love
That ain't good enough
Boy I know you've got love inside of you
But that's something you've gotta prove
I don't want no sugary love
Because baby that just ain't good enough
I know you've got something special for me
So stop acting innocent
Britney tossed her hat off and winked toward her boyfriend.
He unfolded his arms and stood with the male dancers, all giving her
confused faces as she walked around the room. Innosense walked toward the
door and stood in front of it with angered looks. For the men, there was
no escape from their trial. Britney walked over the a long couch and sat
down with her cat-like grin. She pointed toward her boyfriend and signaled
for him to walk towards her. She crossed her legs with a Sharon Stone-like
demeanor about her. Her song never seemed to end in it's performance.
Wished you'd stop playing hide-n-seek
I was just a girl when you fell for me
But now I'm a little older and a little more demanding
Give me something more then roses and candy
The harmonical flow of Britney's voice and the backgrounds
filled the room. Her firm body stood from the couch and waved away her
boyrfiend. She pranced over to Innosense and they stood with their hands
resting on their hips. Each male stared at their counterpart while
Britney's boyfriend lifted her hat and held it. They made eye contact,
Britney taking the more shy position as he gave off the seductive
pheromones that attracted her. Britney pulled back her hair again, batting
her eyes with a tainted preconception. Her boyfriend dropped her cowboy
hat quickly and then turned from her. Britney pouted quickly as the beat
picked up it's high bass sound.
Give me good love
Give me your heart
Tell me you love me
Don't toy with my love
I know you've got something special for me
So stop acting innocent
Innosense left Britney's side in a ripple dance move,
grabbing each available dancer by the arm. Britney curled her lip as she
continued to sing and see the love in the air between the dancers. She
danced her way through the crowd of friends and advanced toward her
boyfriend. She grabbed him roughly and stared at him, shaking her head at
him. She rolled her eyes in a friendly manner and walked away from him,
leaving the daring scent of a woman for the man to follow. This movement
signaled a fall of bubbles from the ceiling, the room being covered in a
fairy tale setting with bubbles floating in the air and pink covering each
inch of inanimate objects.
I don't want no bubble gum love
That ain't good enough
Boy I know you've got love inside of you
But that's something you've gotta prove
I don't want no sugary love
Because baby that just ain't good enough
I know you've got something special for me
So stop acting innocent
When the song began to end, Britney's battle with her
boyfriend ended. She strolled over to the ivory white chair she originated
from and took a seat in a petite manner. Her face glowed in it's own
pureness, the sweat undetected by the camera's lense. She lifted her dog
and placed her into her own lap. Her lips were pouted and her auroa was
consumed with her pride. She seemed at ease and comfortable in her stylish
outfit. She waved to her boyfriend once more as Nikki and Mandy began to
drag him out of the apartment. Jenny, Veronica and Danay aided in their
mission as they pushed the dancers from the pink utopia. Britney glanced
straight into the camera's focused lense with an angelic smile. "That's
the way the bubble pops." she cooed, winking at the camera as the video
came to a close.
Britney sat patiently, awaiting a response. She was
shocked by the sudden array of acclaim from the audience. She smiled
nervously, her cheeks flushing with a pale rose color. "Wow! That is
significantly different from 'Drive Me Crazy' and the rest. The
apartment... it was rather cool, the way you incorporated pink and all to
match the style." Carson complimented her. Britney thanked him with a nod.
"Actually is was kind of interesting... because we had a lot of treatmeants
to look over and we went with that one. So we used pink to represent the
bubble gum and all... yeah, it fit well too." Britney explained, still
bewildered from the positive response. "It was a more mature thing being
as you were in just that one room and still made the fun... I guess you
could say fun and energetic." Carson added. Britney let her self return to
an eased feeling. "Yeah... uhm, that's what we wanted it to be. Different
from 'Sometimes'.. different from '...Baby' and the others. I wanted it to
stand out in a way and say, 'Well here's Britney, but with an attitude,'."
Britney stated. Carson nodded in his usual custom. "I think it's rather
great... though I can't say I don't miss those Catholic uniforms. Are
those coming back?" Carson teased, causing some of the guys to laugh.
Joey's eyes gave each a stern stare, his sense of humor failing. "Actually
I sort of got in trouble for that." Britney remarked softly. "You did?!
What? Like a nun came up and popped your knuckles with a ruler?" Carson
teased her. Britney released a bubbly giggle for him. "No, no, no. My
publicity people got slack some for it, I think because some of the girls
were going to school with their uniforms like mine. You know, the
whole... the unbutton shirt, and uhm, the skirts up and socks and all. I
guess." Britney was fumbling on her own words.
"I bet that was rough for you to deal with. I can't
imagine why the girls would do it." Carson commented slyly. Chris watched
him carefully, seeing the mild yet obvious flirting Carson was emitting.
"Britney's too classy for that. Right B?" Chris spoke up, trying to grasp
her attention. "Right." Britney affirmed. Joey smiled for a few seconds,
trying to put off his jealous emotions toward Carson. "I caught the girls
in the video too. Weren't they.. the girls, right?" Carson tried to catch
himself. "You mean Innosense... I think that's what you mean." Nick
stuttered out. Carson snapped his fingers with a laugh. "That's it." he
agreed. "Yeah, I'm close friends with them." Britney grinned. A smile
seemed to grow over A.J.'s face, Brian and Justin catching it before
A.J. tried to hide it.
"If you watch... in the very beginning, the girl who
answers the door. That's Kev's girlfriend... her name is Nikki." Nick
pointed out for Carson. "Yep, Nikki answers the door and then kicks the
'boyfriend' out in the end." Justin asserted. Kevin sulked, his actions
unnoticable. "Kev? Your girl?" Carson pondered. "Tell him Kev!" Brian
insisted. A chuckle fell from Brian's lips as he teased Kevin. Kevin
rolled his eyes toward his younger cousin. The eyes of some of the older
females held Kevin within their grasps. Their serious distaste for Kevin
being in love with anyone but them was strong. "Yes, that's my
girlfriend." Kevin replied, trying to return to his more adult sound.
"She's a cutie." A.J. muttered. Kevin looked at him with a brotherly
smile.
"Okay, well today at number five we have Blink 182 with
their video 'All The Small Things'." Carson announced, taking all of the
stares from the medling guests. A small snicker arose from the crowd, each
knowing the meaning behind the video. "How do you guys feel about this
video? I mean I'm sure you know who it is referring to and what not..."
Carson struck out for information. "We're cool with it. We don't take
things like that too seriously." Howie responded. Joey nodded to show he
agreed with Howie. Nick looked arond suspicously, not trying to become too
friendly with anyone. "The rest?" Carson left the floor open. "I like the
video actually. I think it's a good video... it's actually kind of funny."
A.J. commented, watching as the video appeared on screen. Joey laughed
suddenly. "Me and A.J. joke about it a lot... because they don't actually
make fun of 'N Sync, but they do Backstreet." Joey snorted. A.J. shook his
head at him, his laughter flaring. "It's okay." Justin added, shrugging.
Brian nudged him with a smile. "I don't really pay any attention to
it... so gosh, I wouldn't know." Britney sighed. Carson cocked his brow at
her with confusion. "Well let's watch the video right now, 'All The Small
Things' from Blink 182." Carson decided, drawing the focus of the
attention.
The video progressed with it's heavy parody on the boy
bands and Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. Justin took his eyes off
of the screen from pure boredom. Brian looked at him with curiosity.
"What's wrong silly?" Brian whispered into Justin's ear. Justin looked up
with a caring smile. He leaned over so that he could whisper in Brian's
ear without the crowd hearing. "I love you cutie." he said, his smile
beaming as he spoke. Justin pulled back, wanting to return for a kiss but
he knew it was against policy. Brian laughed joyfully. He crinkled his
nose at Justin and then leaned in. "Well I love you too little boy." Brian
whispered. He pulled back and looked over his shoulder as Joey and Britney
casually flirted. He slapped Joey's leg indiscretely to stop them. Joey
grumbled under his breath and stopped his playfullness with Britney.
Carson took a moment to watch them with interest, trying to see how these
famous and young singers conducted themselves.
Carson returned his facing to the camera. "Well after we
come back from the commercial break, we have your number four and three
videos and a world premiere video from the guys of 'N Sync." Carson
announced with a jolly appearance in his face. The audience clapped loudly
as the showed faded to commercial. Chris stood to wave to the camera as it
blacked out from the viewer's vision.
As the show took another fade to commercial break, it
allowed everyone to recooperate from the rough task of being conetent for
the viewer's constantly. Carson took this time to chat with some of the
audience members and allowed them to ask the guests a few questions during
the break. Somehow Lance became more lively during this section of the
show, while Brian and Justin were more to their own thoughts. Chris's
preference of making the audience laugh versus giving straight answers left
a more formidable task for Carson. He scheduled everything to it's
appropriate moment so that more time would be allotted during the show.
When the show started once more, everyone took their usual
positions and a more professional atmosphere took over. "Hey, we're back
here on Total Request Live where you the viewers decide what we watch here
on MTV." Carson stated, his voice striking a friendly chord. The crowd was
gearing for a more exciting moment, but Carson kept them within a peaceful
mood. "Our guests today are none other than the Jive Trio of Pop... 'N
Sync, Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys." Carson said candidly. This
brought out the animate actions of the crowd's behavior. Everyone gave a
friendly wave as the crowd jumped with anticipation. "Well I think before
we can chat with the guys... and girl a little more, we need to get to our
next video which is coming from Bush with 'The Chemical Between Us'."
Carson advised. He got a timid sound of clapping within the studio. "That
video's pretty cool." Kevin stated, his deep voice bringing out howls from
some of the female audience members. "Did you hear that? The video has
received the official Kevin Richardson stamp of approval." Carson teased
him. Brian felt the humor building within him. "I guess that means
they're going to get a Grammy now!" Brian bellowed with a cheesy smile. A
rival laughter was set off by the Brian fans. "Is it time for medication
already?" Kevin challenged him in his own right. Brian looked down to his
watch with a docile expression. He contemplated the idea for the camera's
view. "Does he have to think?" Justin giggled. "I think he's doing
something else in his pants," Nick insisted toward Justin's statement.
Brian glanced back and forth at each, seeing a few heated stares strike
each. "No, it's not time... YET!" Brian bursted out, causing the crowd to
laugh with him.
"And this is why you never have two boy bands in the same
room at the same time... too much hyperness." Carson commented softly to
the camera. "What was that Carson?" Chris called out, smiling deviously.
"Ah, nothing Chris. Anyway, let's get to our number four video... here is
Bush." Carson stated, letting the video control the show's next route.
When the video ended, everyone seemed to be in a more
active mood as Chris, Howie and A.J. conversed with signals down to thr
fans in Time Square. "If we get mobbed, we're blaming them." Nick spoke
up, noticing the video had ended. "Smart idea." Joey agreed. Britney
smiled toward Nick while admiring the rest of the audience. "We've got 'N
Sync and BSB on the show today and they are harassing the girls down in
Time Square." Carson commented toward the camera. He looked back to them
again with interest. "Hey Carson, can I invite this one up?" Chris
requested, pointing down to the massive crowd. "Uhm no Chris, we've got to
continue with the show actually." Carson replied in a meloncholy tone.
"Okay, I guess we should sit down then huh?" A.J. chuckled, waving his
final goodbye to the crowd of Time Square. Howie and Chris followed suit,
walking over to their seats and letting Carson once again have navigation
of the show.
Carson smiled at the crowd, still trying to control his
want for relaxation. "Okay we're going to take two questions for our
guests now. Uhm, our first comes from Diane from the Bronx." Carson said,
glancing around quickly for the first person to stand. "Hi, I'm Diane and
I'm from the Bronx." the raven-haired woman said, her New York accent thick
in its emanation. "What's your question Diane?" Carson pondered. "Hey
Diane!" A.J. chimed after Carson. "Hey, New York, cool." Joey smiled.
"Question?" Chris coughed out. "Yes, my question is really for 'N Sync and
Britney. Uh, I wanted to know what tattoo's they had and what was the most
recent ones for them? I'd ask Backstreet the same but... well what was
your most recent ones too?" Diane troubled with her words, but her
determination flared through her attitude. "So your basically asking
what's our latest tattoo?" Kevin tried to understand her inquiry. "Yeah,
basically that's all. And where it's at?" Diane added. Kevin gave her a
mugged smile, trying not to give off too much of his difficulty with the
question. "I don't have a tattoo. I don't really want one either... it's
uhm, sort of not me. Like I would... but it'd be small and cute if I did."
Britney responded first, losing her shy auroa. "My latest is on my
leg... you can't see it right now, but it's there." Joey answered her
question. Joey left the mystery to feed the crowd's imagination. "Guys?"
Carson prodded them for more answers. "I have one, but it's not new."
Kevin stated. "Ooh and you don't want to know about his!" A.J. laughed
loudly. The crowd ensued him in his laughter. "A.J. you're a living
canvas," Kevin interrupted him. "Okay you two... uhm, I got two this
summer. One on my back, musical notes and er, one on my shoulder. It's a
shark." Nick stated, trying to end Kevin and A.J.'s teasing. "My latest is
on my back. I've got the 'Millennium' dragon there." A.J. gave his answer
when his laughter died down. "He's full of them." Kevin added, trying to
start the friendly rivalry again. A.J. rolled his eyes briskly, ignoring
Kevin's words.
Carson gave everyone else a look, trying to finish up the
questioning. "I have a new one... in Chinese letters that I got while we
were on the Backstreet Boys tour in Europe. It's pretty cool." Lance
answered in his well-manered voice. Justin patted him on the shoulder with
a smile. "I might get another one... but right now my latest I got in
Hawaii. It's of my logo from my company." Chris stated clearly. Brian
watched him, reminiscing on the time everyone spent in Hawaii. His mind
brought vivid pictures of his time with Justin, including their honeymoon.
"My second tattoo is on my back... right under my shoulder blade. It's a
phat Japanese writing." Justin finally gave his soft-spoken answer. He
gave a half-hearted smile for the camera. "I got one on my back recently
too." Brian agreed. He was nudged by A.J. with a brotherly grin.
"That it?" Carson asked without concern. "Yeah, the rest
of them are afraid of needles and what not." Brian replied, pointing toward
Howie and J.C. Each laughed softly, trying to draw some of the camera's
focus away from them.
"All right, then our next question comes from
Paulina... she's from Georgia and she's down in Time Square." Carson
proclaimed. He turned his eyes to the video screen, everyone else taking a
look also. "Hello everyone. I love you Justin and A.J.!" Paulina shouted
into the microphone she held. The guests laughed with enchantment. "I
love you too sweetheart. What's your question?" A.J. said in his scratchy
voice. "Oh wow... oh yeah, uh I wanted to know if 'N Sync would be touring
at all now because of this label thingy? And if Brian and Justin were
okay... because I know Brian left the last tour and Justin had to go home
for a family emergency too. Is everything okay now?" Paulina threw out her
words. A.J. sighed deeply, his thoughts strong within his exhale. "That's
a good question actually." A.J. stated. "Yeah, it really is." Chris
responded, keeping the silence strong. "Actually as for us... touring and
all, we're supposed to be hitting the road in Feburary as soon as this
'thingy' is done with. We're hoping by then that we can have a full
fledged U.S. tour that'll last close to three months. We want to be able
to visit wherever possible." Lance responded with his detailed answer.
J.C. was surprised with Lance's sudden interest with the program. "We
should be on the single following this one by then... so we'll have things
to promote and all." J.C. decided to add. "Has this really effected your
plans? With the recent tour cancellation? I heard you guys had to forward
money and upfront new dates all the venues who were being scheduled?"
Carson's knowledge once again played a smooth game. "It's been really
rough trying to work all of that out too. I think though that we're
getting it all done and finished." Chris explained loosely. "We had to go
through a lot of red tape and actually we still are dealing with the
problems of the tour being pulled back." Lance added. He still thought of
how RCA and Trans Con put the full stop on their tour that was set for
November.
"Brian? Justin? Your portion of the question?" Kevin
seemed to take the hosting duties for a small second. Brian was brought
back to attention with Kevin's authoratative voice. "Right. Well I'm fine
now, I'm pretty good. I was in the hospital because I was really, really
sick. They had to take me off tour." Brian affirmed with his young,
dazzling accent. "They said you had to go huh?" Carson pondered.
"Yeah... I got sick like four days into the whole tour and I went to the
other like seven shows or so being sick." Brian said, clearing his throat
afterward. "We couldn't really tell he was really sick at first. We
figured it was a cold or whatever because we all usually get sick on tour.
It trned out to be more." Kevin asserted. "I'd perform night after night,
really sick too. So they finally said my body couldn't take anymore and
the doctors sent me packing. I didn't want to go though, that's why I
performed all of those nights sick. I hated to disappoint any fans, you
know? So it was a very trying period for me." Brian declared. The
audience could see the disconsolation in Brian's baby blue eyes. Justin
wanted desperately to be given the permission to hug and comfort Brian, but
he saw no such given right in the faces of the audience or his commmrades.
"You left right about the same time 'N Sync joined up too."
Carson remarked. Brian responded with a small nod. "He didn't get to
perform when 'N Sync joined us." A.J. added. "We missed him too!" Chris
affirmed for Brian. "And Justin?" Carson tried to follow all of the
questions. Justin looked up with gentle eyes. "Uh.. I left the tour
before like the first date for us. There was a family emergency at home.
I would have returned sooner, but things came up too. So me and management
decided it'd be best if I stayed off the tour." Justin explained.
"Anything serious? Everything okay?" Carson showed a more endearing side
for the camera. "It was serious for me, but everything is fine now. I got
all of my things in order and for the next tour, I'll be at every show."
Justin replied. He brushed a hand over his head with uncertainty. "We
thought it'd be wrong for all of us to just drop off the tour because
Justin wasn't going to be there. That'd be killing our fan base and all.
So we went on with the show, replacing Justin's parts as we went and made
sure the show went well." J.C. added onto Justin's explaination. "We had a
committment to keep." Lance made it simple.
"You were all for it? I know rumors were strong that
Justin left the group because of differences or because Brian or because of
girlfriend problems or something?" Carson built on the drama that split the
room. "We were all for it," Chris answered first. "I was telling them to
keep going and made sure the fans had fun and didn't miss me." Justin
insisted. "Yeah, he'd call me nightly and ask me about shows."
J.C. nodded, smiling at his friend. Justin smiled back, knowing what
J.C. had done for him at the time. "We don't listen to any silly or
foolish rumors. Justin wouldn't leave the group unless he had a valid
reason and if any of us left, then we'd all stop." Chris stated wit a
strict voice. Carson could see the unpleasentness everyone got from
answering such a question. "Seriously though, really, seriously man... I
doubt I could ever leave these guys. We have our fights, good or bad, we
have them. But you know what? They're my bro's. I mean actually like my
older brothers and I doubt that I'd leave this group over some stupid
argument or difference." Justin cleared the air of doubt. He received a
strong amount of applause from the fans. "It wasn't a girlfriend thing, a
management thing, a Backstreet thing or even an 'N Sync thing. It was a
family thing and there's no way we're going to make Justin stay on tour and
have him concerned about his family night and day." Chris said. Justin
nodded, his friends standing by him. "Our prayers were with him as he was
gone as his were with us." Joey agreed. Carson nodded, seeing the genuine
care in their faces. "I know it's a hard thing to do too. Especially for
you guys." Carson kept nodding as he spoke. "Especially for us." Joey
sighed.
Justin looked over at Brian with small contentment. He was
satisfied with his words, but not of what everyone made of them. "Some
times, really, you have to push business aside for the people that mean so
much to you. And so I had to do that at the time... I had to push things
aside and put my family first for just a second." Justin made his final
statement on the dying subject. Carson was somehow satiated with Justin's
last words.
"With that note, I think it's time we premiere our next
video." Carson suggested, being coaxed by his producers and the crowd.
"This one is coming from 'N Sync, who shot this video not too long ago?
Right?" Carson tried to review notes within his mind, but he seemed to be
failing at the attempt. "Yeah, about two weeks ago... while in London
actually." Lance responded. Chris gave a nod, a wearry expression covering
his face. "We went there just for that day so we could work with Billie
Woodruff. He was out their filming a few videos and invited us over so we
could shoot this video." Joey further explained. "It was a LOT of work for
a day's shoot too." J.C. stated, trying to relax himself a bit. Carson
computed the information while listening to his producers give him
pointers. "You put in a lot of work hours when you shoot a video in one
day. So we were on the clock from like eight in the morning until four in
the morning." Justin informed everyone. "That is a lot of work... the
special effects were added later on though, correct? And the single will
be released some time in January?" Carson was fed questions that he could
easily get answers to. Lance held up his microphone, but waited to see if
any of his commrades were going to answer. "The single should be out early
January. We're trying to get promotion on 'True' finished up." Justin
responded first. "The song is called 'I Don't Need Anyone Else'." Lance
added for Justin. "Yeah, that's the song." Justin nodded. "'It's True' is
still doing well... here on the countdown, I mean." Carson agreed. Brian
was drawn into the way Justin remained bright throughout the talks of his
third family, the guys of 'N Sync. He knew that he was Justin's second
family, with BJ and Tyke. He only hoped for another addition to that
family within the future.
"This is like the third single off your new album, 'Another
Step', which might I mention is doing a wonderful job on the charts."
Carson stated. All five nodded and made small comments in unison. "It's
all thanks to everyone out there and in here today!" Chris cheered,
rallying up the approval of the audience. He brushed back his purely brown
hair and got a glow about him. "We're proud of the album and every song on
it." J.C. made sure his words were filled with pride.
"Well tell us a little bit about this song before we see
the video." Carson advised, trying to buy a few more minutes to hold the
audience within their positions. "Okay... well the song was written by the
group Full Force, J.C. and myself. I think it's a really cool song that
people can relate to just because it's about somebody telling their loved
one that they don't need or want anyone else. It's about someone telling
you to move on, but you know in your heart that that person was the one."
Justin explained in his best professional voice. "It's a millennium song,
for the year 2000... just by the sound, dude." Chris attached his words to
the conversation. "Yeah, Full Force gave us this real cool virtural sound
for it. The video is too crunk too." Justin smiled. "Is it?" Carson
laughed, adjustin to Justin's mood swing. Justin nodded, trying to hype up
the crowd with small gestures.
Carson sat back and waited to see the wild reactions from
'N Sync's highly anticipated video. "Okay well let's see how different
this video will be from the first two, shall we? Here it is for our
viewer's, the World Premiere video from 'N Sync. This is from their
sophmore album 'Another Step' and this song is called 'I Don't Need Anyone
Else'... exclusively here on MTV and Total Request Live." Carson annouced,
feeling his own grand excitement. The fuzzy blue screen wrapped over the
screen, signaling the start of the video.
The fine black and white dots collided and cascaded all
across the screen. It was a television screen that seemed to be covered in
'snow'. The fuzzy appearance did not help bring attention to the white,
futuristic looking television. A hand could be viewed from the corner of
the screen. The hand held a small, crystal white remote control. The hand
clicked a button and soon the screen had faded from it's snowy look to a
black screen.
Without notice, a digitalized, animated woman appeared on
the inky black television screen. Her body was computer generated, fully
three-dimensional. Her body was a cybernetic indigo, emanating a potent
amount of light at her fingers and abdomen. An unfamiliar, foreign digital
resonance began to fluctuate from the screen, bringing forth a computerized
voice. The sound seemed to originate from the screen, a scale of audio
sound appearing on the side of the screen. The digitalized woman,
addressed as N2. She was birthed with the name 'N Sync Navigator by her
creators, but so casually called N2 for diminutive purposes. With careful
deliberation, the viewer could tell that the cybernetic voice was that of
N2's as she introduced the meaning behind the song.
Welcome to a world
Where a man loves another... and gets hurt
Yet you know.. you know...
You know he doesn't want any... one... else
'N Sync would... like to thank you for taking...
Another... Step...
The digital image of N2 soon found it's place out of the
screen, dematerializing from the screen. The black screen seemed to focus
a new image. The close-up angle was taken and waiting was a Nextel
cellular phone on a silver, metallic table. The phone rang briskly, a
rapid pulse heard within it's distinct volume. It remained on the table,
untouched and unnoticed. The song of a click and then a beep resound
through the area.
"I'm not at home right now, but if you leave a message, I'll get
back to you. Thanks."
"Baby I just called to let you know it's over and that I've found
someone else."
The angle took an automatic pull back to show the whole
surrounding area. The room was not as dark as the small conversation
between Nikki DeLoach and the voice mail. Standing in the room,
surrounding the table were five young men by the names of Joshua Chasez,
Chris Kirkpatrick, Justin Littrell, James Lance Bass, and Joey Fatone,
collectively known as 'N Sync. They each stared at the phone with mild
distaste.
Each of them dawned black outfits, respecting each of their
personal style, but uniting a group look. Chris accented his look with a
black hooded vest, baring his slightly muscular arms. His black jeans were
baggy and set to a stylish tone with white lining on the sides. His
chestnut brown hair was short and brushed back, while he dawned
orange-tinted shades. His face was perfectly shaven, accenting his goatee.
J.C.'s look was more edgier as his bronze hair sported red highlights and
his eyes glirtered with their light blue shade. His face was not smooth as
always. He dawned a rough, young goatee upon his chin. He wore a sheer
open, button down shirt that bore a black wife beater underneath. His Leo
necklace dangled around his neck while a silver bracelet, admired by him,
swung from his left wrist. His deeply rooted, sable shaded cargo pants
gave him a more street look. His feet were covered in Saucony black and
silver running shoes. Lance seemed to be the more calm, yet classy look.
His platinum blonde hair had a white glare to it in the room. His
olive-green eyes seemed more content on being alive than within the moment.
His pale, chubby face mimicked the shade of his hair. His raven crew-neck
tee and coal black leather pants brought him into the world they stepped
into. And yet he preferred black and white ribbed Nike's for his feet.
Justin's peering eyes brought life to the room. His vivid azure eyes were
a spotlight in the silent room. Wearing a denim, navy blue jean jacket, a
V-neck sweater and baggy cargos, Justin brought the 'In Style' potentional
to the group. He was not afraid to flash off his navy and silver Saucony
running shoes either. Joey's flaring, ruby red hair seemed to light up the
scene. His face was shaggy while it's goatee and small mustache brought
out the manliness in his looks. The ebony black rib sweater and Tommy cord
jeans added to the affect of blackness within the room. His deeply, rich
brown eyes seemed to dance in the lights.
The movement was slow at first but J.C.'s hand lifting
could be seen. He grasped the cellular phone in his hand with a rapid
motion and threw it with his brute strength, causing the heavily
digitalized and bass-filled beat to enter the scene. The small table
seemed to disappear briskly, as if it was a hologram to the eyes. The guys
moved back in the room, their faces filled with a angry expressions. The
beat came into full swing as they all began to in synch their dance moves
within the room.
The room was brillantly set with sliver, black and white
architecture. The floor was covered in half large black tiling and
blinking, white lit tiles. They floor was set up similar to a chess board,
each tile running a diagnol pattern. The square framing of the room was
metallic columns along black walls. The above lights were white,
resembling that of track lighting.
They danced feircly to the introduction of the song before
the camera panned out to a new scene. The room was similar to the square
one. The floor was metal, exhibiting small holes all across the bottom.
The surrounding walls were a solid silver relfection of the room,
infinitely arched towards the raised ceiling. In the middle of the room
was J.C. He was deep into a heavy dance routine as his verse seemed to
float in. A computer generated image of a dancer appeared to the rear of
his energetic body. She was a female dancer with a pinkish glimmer
surrounding her digital frame. She sported no personal elegance or vogue
affect; just a facsimile of a female framework. She mimicked each of
J.C.'s dance steps, move for move. She was his immovable silhouette as he
voiced his words of heartache. The mystification encompassing his glassy
eyes added to the effect of the music. His voice was relatively chafe in
tone, showing he believed in the lyrics he sung.
Today was another day
That I've spent trying to get a hold of you
Just to tell you that I'm not ready
To just let go of you (let go of you)
So you say that you love someone else
Well what happened to dedication?
I always told you I don't need no one else
So baby stop driving me crazy, yea
Scenes switched once more as the camera viewed a room that
was spherical in shape and narrow in width. It was an ivory white room,
the walls pillared with four, long white lights that ran vertically across
them. The light molded into the color and reflection of the room. In the
center of the room, standing upon a rotating floor was Lance. The floor
spun in a three hundred and sixty degree motion, slow and calm for Lance.
He flashed a viny jacket to match his leathery smile. He bobbed lightly to
the beat of the song, making candid faces as the chorus drew upon them.
The camera switched angles again to a room with a long
floor that seemed to be moving backward. The room remained still while
just a section of the floor pulled toward the back. The floor rotated
backward like a conveyor belt at a supermarket. Slipping and dancing with
that floor was Chris. He knew each dance step for his routine like he knew
his birthday. The floor proved for no difficulty as it pulled him backward
toward the steel, black wall behind him. His glasses were removed so that
the vigorous dance motions would not hurl them in an opposite direction.
He looked up toward the camera with a friendly smile before letting it
slide off his lips like he slid on the moving floor. As he did, the chorus
took over and the camera switched angles from J.C. to Lance to Chris and
repeating it's movement.
You know I don't need anyone else
But I don't wanna be by myself
So stop playing games with me
I know you need to find love for yourself
But I don't need anyone else
So baby please stay with me
When the chorus started to fade, the view was of another
room. This time it was of a square room with four rotating lights that
sprawled over each angle of the small room. The crimson, ivory-yellow,
emerald and sapphire-tinted lights touched each speck of the room like a
strobe light would do at a club. Without the lights, the whole room was
glassy white tiles. With the lights, it was a rainbow assortment of life,
imitating the brightness and fast paced life of a discotheque. This room
was occupied by Justin, his sensual smile breath-taking to eyes. His own
indigo eyes were hidden under the shadows of his white fisherman hat. The
flashing lights seemed to change the hue of his outfit as he danced, adding
to the futuristic appeal of the scene. He adjusted his tennis bracelet
before beginning an easy and show stealing dance move, commencing the start
of his section as he did. With a careful eye, the camera spotted the
golden ring that was sealed on Justin's left ring finger.
Why do I have to suffer right here
You can't even tell me to my face
I'm calling all of your friends just to find you
And tell you that things have changed
Even if I have to send you an e-mail
I'll do anything to show you that I'm so in love
It's not that I don't want you to go
But I know that it'll be just so wrong, hey
The camera pulled out, for an encore, to show an additional
room. This room was basic and simple. It was encased in silver design,
but nothing gratifying or standing out. Just a white couch sat toward the
back where Joey was seated. The snowy couch appeared odd in it's form, but
was comfortable enough for Joey to organize himself. He bobbed his body
back and forth to the bass sound, his smile tantalizing. He made sure to
floss his crimson bright Superman necklace for the camera's view. He
raised a hand and waved it with the beact as he sang the chorus with the
others, the camera panning from room to room in an attempt to view
everyone.
You know I don't need anyone else
But I don't wanna be by myself
So stop playing games with me
I know you need to find love for yourself
But I don't need anyone else
So baby please stay with me
A flash occured on the screen, bringing the view back to
the room the event started in. 'N Sync stood in unity, without motion.
The were frozen in their dance move while J.C. stood with his arms crossed.
He looked out into the room as he would to a hated lover. He could grasp
the atmosphere of betrayel and ignorance. He curled his lip slightly and
dropped his arms to belt out his words of wisdom.
So baby, here me out
I'm not trying to sound desperate
But without the honesty
I'll be thinking of you twenty-four-seven
When the vocals by J.C. ended, the interlude by Justin
initiated, causing the gentlemen of 'N Sync to dance once more. Their
rigorous dance steps moved just as their name says, in synch with one
another. A step was not missed and a look to the camera was not overdone.
The camera's view of the dance steps was overlooked momentarily to show
Justin speaking the words of his interlude, his moves slow and arousing.
His eyes were filled with former thoughts of lust. He knew the meaning of
the song and had seen it's full justification in the way each of the boys
acted.
Here we go...
'N Sync...
That's right
Don't need no one else...
The view set upon the guys as they danced in the flashing,
white tiled room, N2 forming in the middle of the room to begin her
interlude while Justin sang the background vocals. The incredible energy
placed into each action showed their care for the song. N2's cybernetic
form did not intervene or disrupt 'N Sync's movements. She seemed to
control the speed and energy they placed into the room.
You must understand...
This is the story of a lovesick man...
And I'll do anything to show you I'm in love
Ooh baby, I'm not ready just to let you go
The final shots spun from each room the guys sat in as they
all added a few ad-libs to the song's last two choruses and moved to the
beat. From Chris's dancing on the moving floor to Lance's crazy motions on
the rotating floor to Justin's sexual moves in the disco room to Joey's
suaveness on the white couch to J.C.'s serious dancing with the computer
animated woman, everyone seemed to play their own role in the dramatic
music. No one person was overlooked for another.
The music began to fade with one last close-up of everyone
before shutting down to a close-up of N2 as she pronounced the last lines
of the song. Her computer-altered voice brought out a futuristic force to
the hard-hitting song. As she did, the hand once again fiddled with the
remote control to bring back the snow-filled television screen.
Another... Step
Another... Step
Another... Step
Another... Step
A fiery, clamorous ovation struck out from the audience.
The approval was seen in their lively eyes, heard in their squeals and felt
in their mixture of screaming names and praising the video. Carson stood
in awe, not only of the audience, but of the video also. He clered his
throat, trying to find the proper words to express his amazement. "I think
they like it." A.J. tried to help him out, smiling at the females that
threw their words out like their hearts were encased in each 'I love you'.
"I want to be nice, but damn that was a good video." Carson stated boldly.
His surprising words caused the guys to laugh loudly. "You guys top
yourselves with that one." Carson added, trying to lose his surprise.
Brian nodded smoothly, his pink lips releasing an amiable smile. "Great
work for a day's shoot." Kevin noed. Carson agreed, inaudibly. "That was
actually the first time we've seen the finished video. It's been in
editing and production for a good week." J.C. informed everyone, looking
away from the screen finally. "So that was your first chance viewing it
with all the special effects?" Britney puzzled out his commentary.
J.C. mouthed the word, 'yes', for her.
"You guys truly topped yourselves with the dancing and the
effects and everything. With the first video it was like 'N Sync's version
of 'Grease' and then with the second one, it was a more laidback trip at
the mall and with this one... I mean like your album says, you guys do go
'another step'." Carson gave his generous criticism for 'N Sync to admire.
Nick and Brian jumped into an applause for them, striking up another from
the crowd. "Who was the hot chica in the beginning?" Howie said with
sarcasm. "Dumbie!" Britney giggled, teasing him. "That was N2." Lance
responded, unheard by the audience due to additional noise. Howie
comprehended his words fully. His began to pet his shiny, long brown hair
while awaiting Carson to continue with the show.
Carson looked out in the audience where they became
restless with being silenced. "Okay, well we have a question from an
audience member... Jeanie?" Carson said, not looking for the young girl. A
very young girl, no more than ten or eleven, stood and smiled at the guys.
"Hi Jeanie." Brian waved to her, seeing that she was nervous and rigid.
She carefully waved back as some of the older girls mocked her. "What's
your quesion cutie?" Brian asked with a sincere voice. She held the mic to
her mouth with unsureness. "It's okay sweetheart, just ask." A.J. coaxed
her. She gave a weaker smile for him. "What did you... you guys eat for
breakfast... uh, this morning?" she finally asked. A roaring laughter was
set out by the crowd. Carson tried to hold his snickers by looking away
from the yong girl. Brian looked undeviatingly at her and could see she
was serious and that the crowd had upset her. "That's the question?" Nick
laughed, trying to grow serious. "Yes, it was." Brian hissed at him,
trying to defend the small child. Justin stopped his giggling and saw
Brian detested everyone's retrogressionto Jeanie's humorous question.
"Let's answer the question guys," Justin suggested, trying to silence the
entire group. He looked over to Brian who kept a tight glare with Jeanie.
Kevin stopp his laughter and persuaded the others to follow his lead.
Brian was pleased that evryone ended their laughter. He
watched Jeanie carefully and saw that she held a 'Millennium' CD tucked in
her right hand. An idea presented itself to his mind. "Hey Carson, how
about we all answer the question and while we do we could autograph her CD
for her." Brian suggested, trying to compensate for the faults of the rest
of the people. A few, soft cries of rejection were heard through the
crowd. Carson took the proposition and inquisition lightly, but he could
see the seriousness in Brian's eyes. He shrugged his shoulders. "Sounds
like a plan." Carson finally agreed verbally.
A production member helped Jeanie from the seat she had
taken and walked her down the guests. The crowd was in pure jealousy of
her. "Let's see... since we had a very early flight, we had to get up
early. So I actually didn't get a chance to get breakfast... but as soon
as we leave here, I'm heading to get something to eat." Kevin announced.
He could see some of the girls starting a ring of whispers around the
audience. "I bet any one of these ladies would love to join you on your
dining out, Kev." A.J. mumrured, causing a ripple of screams to break
loose. "Yeah, I bet they would." Carson added, trying to cause Kevin even
more embarassment. "What about you A.J.? What was dining for you this
morning?" Carson asked, taking the heat off of Kevin. "I had one of those
quick meals... I stopped my McDonald's with Howie and Chris, I grabbed one
sausage, egg and cheese McMuffin with hash browns and an orange juice."
A.J. explained. "I got two of what A.J. got." Howie added. A.J. snickered
at the memory of walking into McDonald's with all the female workers
staring at them. It was memorabe how each of the ladies jotted down their
phone numbers for Howie on a napkin. "Howie seemed to be kind of hungry
when we got there." A.J. babbled out. Chris let out a soft laugh, thinking
on the same plane as A.J. "Chris got like two egg McMuffins, hash browns,
a sausage, egg and cheese McMuffin and an orange juice." A.J. bellowed,
trying to bring Chris into the ring of shame.
Lance was given the CD to sign as he listened to his
friends reply to the question. He looked for an area to sign and came upon
one of Nick's photos. He looked down at the photograph and a piercing pain
struck his heart. There was nothing left between himself and Nick. Even
the memories seemed like a night of passion and a morning of guilt. He
quickly scribbled his name next to Nick's face, making sure not to ruin
anything that was already mournful in the picture. He closed the CD jacket
and passed it briskly to Joey. "Lance... it's your turn." Nick informed
him, shaking his daydream. Lance looked up with confusion. "Yeah Lansten,
tell them what you rounded up for breakfast this morning." Justin proposed.
Lance laughed sorely. "I had a plate of hash browns, eggs and a side of
bacon from Denny's at the airport." Lance answered the previous question.
Justin found the sound of Lance being the only one to eat at Denny's funny.
"Justin?" Carson asked, trying to find out his reply. Justin took the CD
jacket and penned his name next to Brian's picture. He grinned
mischeviously and then looked over to Carson. "I had a big bowl of cereal
for breakfast. I got it at the hotel before we left." Justin responded
sonfidently, passing the CD jacket to Brian.
Brian flipped to his picture and saw that Justin had
already scribbled his large signature within the white area of the photo.
He smiled innocently. Brian ignored the other replies given by his friends
as he penned a special note for Jeanie on her CD jacket. "It's your turn
B-Rok." Nick patted him for attention. Brian did not look up as he
replied. "I had some eggs and cheese, bacon, toast, coffee and french
fries." Brian said. He looked up when he was finished and passed the CD
jacket back down the line. "That's a big meal Brian." Carson remarked,
grasping the CD jacket. "Especially for someone as small as Brian." Kevin
agreed, puzzled by Brian's enormous plate of food. Brian gave Kevin a
quick scowl. "Well Tyke helped me eat some of it, but I am very capable of
putting some food away." Brian argued kindly, trying not to let the crowd
see the hostility built between Kevin and Brian. Carson studied each of
them, sensing something he could not clutch onto.
"Tyke's a little hungry sucker." A.J. retorted placidly.
"Tyke? As in a child?!" Carson seemed lost in the conversation. This
caused an eruption of tittering to ring through the studios. "Carson,
that's my dog." Brian snickered. Carson's mouth slipped open as the
affects of discomfiture fell upon him. "That's his Chihuahua, his name is
Lil' Tyke." Howie helped to explain. Carson took a step to the side,
feeling his growing abashment. "Well I feel pretty dumb right now." Carson
said softly. 'You should.' Justin thought to himself, faking laughter to
cover his feelings. "I don't have any kids Carson." Brian assured him.
Carson nodded, his face flushed of it's natural peach color. "Justin,
don't you have a dog?" Carson asked, looking over to him. Justin nodded
happily. "From Brian?" Carson inched a little closer to the line with his
questioning. "Yeah, Brian gave me a dog ya'll. Ain't that nice?" Justin
replied sarcastically. The crowd giggled at him. "But really, Brian gave
me a dog and her name is BJ. She's a cutie. She's actually going to have
puppies." Justin explained in a nicer way. Carson smiled at him, not
wanting to debate. "He's had her since April." Lance added. The crowd was
further fascinated by the dog. "Yeah, he has a dog from Brian, not a kid."
Chris said toward Carson. A.J. and Chris constant taunting seemed to keep
Carson's mind off of the show.
"Well I think maybe we should just move on. Here is your
number three request for today. It's coming from the guys of 'N Sync and
this their song 'It's True'. And it's all brought to you by MTV and the
folks here at Total Request Live." Carson stated, not missing a beat or
breaking for conversation. The crowd began their clapping again while
small discussions continued between the guests.
The show took an extended commercial break, leaving the
guests to mingle with the crowd and themselves while Carson met with
production and made some last minute changes within MTV's programming. For
a inconsequential period, Nick, Howie and J.C. made a few phone calls from
their cellular phones. Information was spread through those calls, mainly
business and nothing social.
Carson entered the main studio again, recollecting
everything from his brief meeting. He stood at his marker and waved
advidly to the crowd. When the cameraman gave him the known signal, Carson
lifted his microphone and smiled. "Welcome back to MTV's Total Request
Live where you, yes you the viewer decides what videos we play here at our
studios and where important and cool guests like the Backstreet Boys,
Britney Spears and 'N Sync stop by." Carson released all of his commonly
said info with small ad-libs. Carson looked to his pannel of guests with a
friendly demeanor before looking back to the camera. Everyone seemed to
remain still and relatively quiet as Carson began his work. "Today is
basically a Jive Pop Fest, I guess. We've World Premiered three videos
today. We've done Britney Spears's 'Bubble Gum Love' which comes from her
new album, 'N Sync's 'I Don't Need Anyone Else' which is on their current
album 'Another Step', and Brian Littrell's 'Guardian Angel' which is
featured on the movie soundtrack for 'It Never Happened'." Carson spit out
his words in a calm and peaceful way. Carson glanced over to the
TelePrompTer to see the information he should have covered. "Plus we've
counted down the top eight videos of today, leaving us with two more to go
and one more World Premiere video which comes from the Backstreet Boys."
Carson added to his previous words. "And that just about covers it." Nick
commented shyly. 'What a moron.' Carson thought, not peeping back to the
blonde jokster. "So before we get to the World Premiere of the Backstreet
Boys brand new video, let's check out our number two video. That video is
coming from Limp Bizkit featuring Method Man. The song is 'N2gether Now'
and it's your number two request on TRL." Carson said clearly, skipping the
conversational and controversal topics that he had used to bring out the
crowd's concentration before. The video flashed upon the screen while the
fans clapped loudly.
Carson lowered his mic and walked over to his guests while
a straight face. "We know you guys have to get moving soon, so what we
need is for you to stop by and sign a couple of things we could give away
after this show is over and then your limos are downstairs. So just let
the security know when you're finished and we'll guarantee a safe exit."
Carson explained softly so that the audience could not hear. He received
an audible reply from everyone. He smiled, thankfully and walked back to
his marked position.
The video was cut short to permit more time with the guests
and the premiering video. Carson lifted his mic again, doing a small dance
of happiness. "That was Limp Bizkit coming in at number two. It's a
pretty cool song if you haven't checked it or the album out yet." Carson
noted. The audience cheered him on. "But let's not stay on number two
videos when we could talk about a group that's had the number one album
more than once." Carson suggested, turning around to glare at his visitors.
"Is he talking about us?" A.J. tried to play coy. Carson shook his head at
him. "So you guys shot the video for 'Larger Than Life' in Orlando right?"
Carson asked. "Yeah, we were in rehearsals before the MTV Awards and shot
the video afterward. It was a lot of work because we knew we had to get it
done before this tour." Nick stated. He let a few strands of his long
blonde hair fall over his eyes, giving an appealing feature to his face.
"Production took about two days too." Kevin pointed out, correcting Nick in
his fatherly way. "That's quite a bit of work. Do you guys like the
finished product?" Carson pondered out loud. Brian pointed toward Howie to
give him a chance to speak. Howie lifted his mic on Brian's cue. "Yeah,
we do. We've seen it... well most of it any way and we're impressed with
the work and what not." Howie finally spoke. "The look is a good one."
A.J. agreed roughly.
"Now this song is dedicated to the fans, right? Any fans
in the video?" Carson questioned. "Oh yeah. See we knew we had to
incorporate the fans into the video because the song is written about them
and because they are a huge part of our success. So on the last day of
filimg, we were like, 'Where are we going to find fans at this time of
night?' So our security and some of the cast went out to local hang outs
and arcades and crap like that to get people. It worked out really well
too because they were fans and they were thrilled to be in the video too."
A.J. gave the full explaination. "You have to give credit where credit is
due and to not feature fans in a video for a song all about them is rather
egotistical and arrogant. And that's not us." Brian stated, his country
accent well heard. Justin was confident in Brian's reply, seeing the
audience's pleased faces. "It's our Christmas present to the fans too
because the single and the video will be available late December. We're
just previewing it today." Howie added on to his long-time friend's
comments. This brough out a screams and clapping from the fans. "Is there
much dancing?" Carson wondered. "Yes... our choreographer, Fatima Robison,
made sure that was a serious component to the video which we appreciated."
Kevin answered Carson. His diamond blue eyes made direct contact with
Carson's ice blue eyes. Carson could see that Kevin rarely lost his
serious nature.
He looked back to the camera and the restless patrons.
"Well with all of that, I think it's time that we show you the new video
from the Backstreet Boys." Carson advied, watching all of the congregation
get excited. "Let's do it baby!" A.J. howled. "Medication time." Justin
joked, making his friends laugh. "So without further ado, here is the
World Premiere video from the Backstreet Boys with their song, dedicated to
you the fans, 'Larger Than Life'." Carson announced, pulling out the
shreiks of the audience as the blue screen made it's final appearance on
the screen.
A spotlight scanned the area, tracing the walls, the floors
and each available spot. The edge of the light made contact with the area
and made things a little more visual for a human eye. As the spotlight
widened it's beam, the lights switched on. It was a long, tunnel-shaped
hallway. Along the side of the extensive hallway were security guards.
The guards each wore all black three-piece suits. They were broad
shouldered, muscular and stiff men. The made straight lines running down
the two walls. Each side of the hall was filled with six guards, totalling
twelve guards down the walkway. Their hands rested behind their backs as
if they were with presidental security.
As the lights stretched out, there could be seen a dead end
at the extremity of the walkway. The dead end was represented by door
sliding doors. These doors were recognized as elevator doors. Without
warning, the sound of a voicebox hit the walkway. When the sound began,
the elevator doors slid open, allowing five men to walk out. Each man was
dressed in the black motif that was started by security.
As a unit, they walked down the walkway to the front of the
camera's view. Two led the group while the other three walked
shoulder-to-shoulder behind them. They came to a stiff and attitudish stop
in front of the camera, no smiles covering their expressions. While
laughing occured in the background, it had no affect on the group known as
the Backstreet Boys.
The three men in the back, known as Kevin, A.J. and Howie,
crossed their arms as if they were V.I.P. material. The two in the front,
known as Nick and Brian, stayed with their hands at their sides. There was
no anticipation by them as the blaring guitar rippled the background. Even
with A.J.'s ad-libs, they remained motionless. They were similar
leather-like outfits, shimmering in the bluish spotlight. No one stood out
too much except for A.J. blue-tinted frames.
Brian put his left hand up to commense their movement.
Step-by-step, each guy began a smooth and orchestrated dance step as they
song began it's full motion. They stayed coorodinated throughout the
beginning steps. The lead two moved up a little more while the back three
pushed backward some. Brian was the first to sing, followed by Nick's
nasally voice.
I may run and hide
When you're screamin' my name, alright
But let me tell you now
There are prices to fame, alright
The forward two walked to the back to begin a line of men
while A.J. stepped forward. The line of men stopped their dancing and
remained stiff while A.J. danced in the front. A.J.'s hand movements and
foot work never missed the intense beat. Smiles still seemed to remain
without permission within their expressions. A.J. swung his arm-band
covered arms around for a moment before starting his bridge.
All of our time spent in flashes of light
A break out of movements began as no one had a set dance to
follow. Brian and A.J. stayed in the front of the group while Nick, Kevin
and Howie disarranged themselves in the back. Kevin danced easily but in a
more old-fashioned manner as he swung his trench coat with his motions.
Nick danced freely, his slick and pulled back hair not interferring in his
rapid movement. Howie walked to the back of the walkway for a few seconds
before walking back to the front. The war paint that was slicked under his
wide brown eyes brought out the attitude of the video. Brian and A.J. gave
the camera cold stares while in the front, not getting too personal with
their movements. A.J.'s need to be in front caused Brian to take a more
laid back position. He adjusted to it as he made infrequent contact with
that of his commrades. They all seemed to know the chorus that reflected
what they felt for a million people in their lives.
All you people can't you see, can't you see
How your love's affecting our reality
Every time we're down
You can make it right
And that makes you larger than life
As the chorus ended, A.J., Kevin and Howie walked back
toward the elevator in an orderly fashion. The doors peeped open, showing
two female security guards standing inside. They stepped inside of the
elevator without hesitation, turning around before the doors shut again.
Nick and Brian remained outside, walking back to the front to stare at the
camera. Nick walked behind Brian and a smile slipped across his lips. He
and Brian initiate dance movements they had been taught. Nick was Brian's
exact shadow as they moved. The illusion created by computer graphics made
it seem as if they bodies had melded together. At certain points, Brian
looked to be Nick's puppet while they moved. Their eyes were distant, but
their voices were straightforward and never deceiving in their meaning.
Nick took the lead in the vocal area while Brian sung afterward.
Looking at the crowd
And I see your body sway, come on
Wishin' I could thank you
In a different way, come on
When their verse ended, the camera switched it's view
fully. The view was now of the elevator that Kevin, Howie and A.J. stepped
on previous to the second verse. The inside of the elevator was
titilating. A red light bulb caused the entire interior of the elevator to
be of a red hue. A.J. was the only one standing in the elevator. He moved
around occassionally. Somehow he did not see the need for it. His jewelry
glimmered in the red light, but his outfit seemed to remain it's rich black
color. The camera took a sharp view of his eyes, their red tint
fascinating the lense. A.J.'s long tongue revealed a blue glow stick
awaiting in his mouth as he sang. He grasped the camera with his hand
began to shake it as he sang his verse, creating a chaotic scene.
Cause all of your time spent keeps us alive
The camera changed it's angle again to Howie and Kevin as
they returned to the walkway. They remained alone with security on the
walkway, dancing up and down the long catwalk. Kevin seemed to be the more
avid dancer, creating his own dance steps while Howie remained stiff but
coorodinated. Kevin's hands were thrown in the air as he danced, trying to
hype up an imaginary crowd. Howie kept his head low, his corn rowed hair
being observed.
All you people can't you see, can't you see
How your love's affecting our reality
Every time we're down
You can make it right
And that makes you larger than life
Kevin approached the camera and pulled his arm back. He
stepped forward a little, and with brute strength, sent his fist shattering
through the camera lense. As the glass broke, each Backstreet Boy appeared
in the walkway. The shattered glass upon the ground showed scenes of fans
from Backstreet Boys' concerts. The Boys stood rigid with their hands by
their sides and their eyes straightforward. Their bodyguards peeled off
the wall and made a formation behind them. The echoing sounds of
harmonized voices set the scene for their slow, steady movement. When
everyone stood in their spots, Brian and A.J. stepped forward from the
crowd. They stood next to each other with timid smiles. They voiced the
third and final bridge for the song.
All of your time spent keeps us alive...
They stepped back and the security guards moved back to
their positions. Five of the guards passed each of the Boys a neon yellow
basketball. Howie, Kevin, Nick, Brian and A.J. grabbed a basketball and
took their positions of a straight line from shortest to tallest. They
stood in a column, bouncing the ball to the funky beat. Brian was at the
head while Nick was at the foot. They began their dance with the
basketballs, holding them tightly and moving from side to side. They split
down the middle, three on one side of the hall and two on the other.
Brian, A.J. and Nick stood to the left while A.J. and Howie were on the
right. They spun the basketballs on their fingers before dribbling them
for five counts. They repeated this action and then placed the ball on the
toe of their foot. They kicked the ball up just high enough to catch,
preceding spinning with the ball in their spots. They began to dribble the
balls once more. After an eight count of dribbling, they passed the balls
to their security and slid backward, making sure everyone stayed in a
tight-knit group.
All you people can't you see, can't you see
How your love's affecting our reality
Every time we're down
You can make it right
And that makes you larger than life
The guys all ran for the back of the walkway to the
elevator. The doors slid open again, this time revealing a large group of
fans. The group stood at twenty-five in depth. Ages seemed to range from
adulthood to mere children. They flooded out of the elevator, following
the guys back to the front of the hallway. The guys began to dance within
the crowd of fans while singing toward them. Their eyes locked on a fan to
keep their concentration and balance. The fans flocked to any Backstreet
Boy they could grab or mingle with. The rage did not seem to stop the
Backstreet Boys from doing their job of singing and dancing.
Yeah, every time we're down
Yeah, you can make it right
Yeah, that's what makes you larger than life
Yeah, yeah
Yeah!
The security piled off the walls again and surrounded the
crowd. The group of twelve security guards made a perfect circle around
the crowd and began to usher them back toward the elevator. The Backstreet
Boys faught to break from the crowd, but they were unsuccessful. They sang
while being pushed and ushered back tot he elevator. The crowd remained
under control as they grasp for a Boy to hang on to. The security secured
everyone into the elevator, creating a tight fight as the final chorus took
over the floor.
All you people can't you see, can't you see
How your love's affecting our reality
Every time we're down
You can make it right
And that makes you larger
That makes you larger
That makes you larger than life
The doors to the elevator closed and one security guard
remained outside. He turned around to face the camera with a smile. The
camera took a close up view of him and his brilliant smile. He crossed his
arms and began to laugh to himself. "I tell ya, those New Kids On the
Block kids have a lot of fans." the security guard chuckled. As he did,
the doors to the elevator opened, each of the Backstreet Boys standing on
the other side. They had scribed scowls on their faces as they approached.
The secrity guard's mindless laughter prevented him from hearing their
almost stealth movements. With ten strong hands, the security guard was
yanked into the elevator. "I'll show you New Kids On the Block!" Nick
growled as the doors began to close. "I'll make you look like a little
kid!" A.J. added. "What'd you say about my momma!" Howie's call proved
louder. "Secure this!" Kevin groaned. "My fists are larger than life!"
Brian was the last heard as the doors shut completely.
When the screen faded to black, the Boys awaited to hear
their share of applause. Just as they felt that they might have failed to
appease the fans, a string of ovation broke out from the audience. Carson
too clapped after the spectical began. Howie was the first to lose his
sense of nervousness. "Thank you, thank you very much." Howie said
candidly. Brian was pleased with the response to his hard work. "I think
the fans have given you your response." Carson remarked, building more
applause. "Yeah, you guys agree? Did you like it?" Kevin tried to bring
out more praise from the fans. He was successful as the fans screamed
lovingly. He smiled appreciatively.
"I must say that it was a good dance video plus it did
incorporate the fans." Carson commented kindly. Nick saw a few females
trying to snatch his attention as Carson spoke. He quickly waved to them,
trying to calm their loud and uncontrollable behavior. He blushed at their
strenuous attempts and his face turned back to Carson. "It's a good
Christmas presents for the fans might I add." Carson gave his final
statement for the video. "Thanks Carson." Kevin replied. "Yeah... we
hoped that the fans would enjoy it." Brian added. He did not speak in
vain. Carson could see the gratification within the expressions of the
young girls' faces.
Carson could hear the instructions that his producers gave
him as he waited on. "Well we know that you guys and gal have to get
moving to do things and what not. How long will you be in New York?"
Carson asked, wrapping up. "Just today. We leave tomorrow morning."
A.J. replied in his husky voice. "Early tomorrow morning." Lance
emphasised. Carson shrugged, not caring for technicalities. "Where do you
go from here and what's coming up?" Carson questioned, keeping his
interview format alive. "From here we all kind of go our separate ways."
Joey responded, looking around to make sure his facts were straight.
Justin was the first to nod, followed by Britney. "Yeah, we head back to
Orlando for a few more days of rehearsals before leaving for our tour."
Kevin explained. "I bet you're excited about that," Carson cooed. Brian
laughed softly. "We're looking forward to it." Howie assured him. "We're
going to Orlando for a little break before heading to work on some separate
things for a little bit and a few promotion dates too." J.C. explained.
"Yeah, you'll be giving me a break soon." Carson snorted, feeling at ease
with his vacation. "Yes, we will Carson. We promise not to blow up all of
Time Square." Chris joked with him. "I hope not Chris." Carson chimed in,
trying to remain light with him. "I begin my tour in about three days, so
I'm heading for one day off and then flying out to the first date." Britney
stated. Carson nodded and smiled at her. Joey detested the admiration
Carson had for his girlfriend. He crossed his arms with a disturbed
expression. "There's a lot of work in Pop Land." Carson laughed.
Carson turned back to the camera with a pleseant grin.
"Just so you know, the Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears and 'N Sync are
going to be signing a few things and we'll let our viewers try and win them
on tomorrow's show." Carson announced, drawing attention from the crowd
outside and inside. "We'll try and make it cool stuff." Chris said.
"Thanks to the Backstreet Boys, 'N Sync and Britney Spears for stopping by
today and showing their new videos. You'll be able to vote for these new
videos in December." Carson informed everyone while turning to his guests.
The crowd clapped loudly. "Thanks guys for making a trip to New York to
see us and we hope to see you all on tour soon." Carson said to them
personally. They all thanked him and the audience with smiles. "And when
we get back on TRL, we'll have our number one video for today." Carson
stated, the show pulling into a commercial break.
The exit from the studios was not easy, but it was done.
The late evening was coming upon the hotel they stayed at as a crowd seemed
to lock out the front. "Man, I want to party!" Chris said loudly, pacing
the hall. He had the attention of A.J., Kevin, Britney, Justin, Nick,
Denise McLean, some of security and Howie. "We have an early flight
tomorrow Chris, I advise against it." Kevin quickly protested. Chris
growled at him under his breath, trying to remain calm with the equally
elder man. "I don't know... I mean we haven't been to a club in a while
and maybe we should just cut loose for a minute." Howie suggested. Kevin
lost confidence in his band member, hoping for a small amount of help. "I
don't know guys, things in New York can get hectic. Especially with the
crowd forming outside." Denise said, her skeptical expression showing her
inner thoughts. Chris shook his head, becoming irritated with the split
between decisions. He leaned against the nearest wall and tried to wait
for the debate to begin.
His wait was not long when he saw a friendly female step
out of his room. He smiled affectionately as the woman carried his dog,
Busta, in her small arms. "I think it's time for Busta to go potty. He's
been doing his little dance." her voice flowed like sweet wine in Chris's
ears. He leaned off the wall and walked up to her. "I'll walk with you
down there Meelah." Chris chimed. Her pinkish lips grinned at him. "If
you want. I can handle it by myself. I'm sure the ladies wouldn't mob
lil' ol' me." Meelah assured him. He ran a hand over her brown hair.
"Nah, you might bust out with 'Where My Girls At' and start beatin' ass."
Chris snickered. She quickly slapped his stomach, causing him to ease
back. "No profanity msiter." she warned him. Chris laughed lowly,
grabbing her hand. "Chris, maybe I should walk Miss Williams down there.
We don't want the girls down there seeing you with her. Management
advising against anyone finding out who you are dating or them taking
photos or seeing who you are with." Lonnie, a security guard, cautioned
him. Chris raised an eyebrow with worry. "I just announced... as I have
several times, that I am dating Meelah and you want me to hide it still?"
Chris became angered by the suggestion. Lonnie saw the spite in his eyes.
"Listen Chris, I understand that many people might know now who you are
dating but still the mob and any upset fans may not be easy for just you
and a security guard to deal with. Then there's people wanting pictures
and autographs from you. That can be hard to deal with." Lonnie explained
further reasons, trying to win him over. Chris crossed his arms with
justified anger.
He looked over to Meelah who seemed rationally calm.
"Chris, maybe he's right. If anyone wants my autograph, it'll be a couple
of people, but not the whole group." Meelah stated. "If they ask, I'll
shout out loud that I'm your girlfriend and see what they do." Meelah tried
to add a joke to help appease Chris's feelings. Chris sighed loudly,
moving aside a little. "Take her." he groaned, losing his will to fight.
Lonnie lifted his walkie-talkie and announced to other personnel of his
intentions. Meelah clutched Busta and moved over to his master. She
placed a small peck on Chris's cheek. "Stop pouting Brownie, it's not
cute." Meelah whispered to him, giggling. Chris rolled his eyes and then
smiled. She walked away from him and followed Lonnie to the elevators.
"Let's go Chris." A.J. made the decision that seemed to
still bother the rest. "Where to?" Chris asked, walking back over to the
semi-crowd. A.J. thought over the idea while the others tried to collect
their thoughts. "The Purple Lounge." Howie suggested from the side. Chris
nodded with a grin. "Eh, that's cool." A.J. shrugged. Kevin gave everyone
a disgraceful look. "You guys are on your own then." he stated before
walking toward his hotel room. "You guys know I'm against this." Denise
sighed out. A.J. turned to his mother with a smile. "Come on mom, let's
talk about letting guys grow up." A.J. advised, placing his arm around her.
He walked her down the hall while the others talked.
As A.J. and Denise strolled down the hall, J.C. stepped out
of his hotel room. He carried an ice bucket in his left hand. Nick looked
over at him with admiration. "I'll be back gents." Nick grinned, running
up to J.C. J.C. was surprised to see Nick walking next to him. He savored
the small kiss Nick gave him on the lips. Joey laughed as they walked off.
"Go on doggy." Joey joked loudly. Britney nudged him. "It was a joke."
Joey swiftly rebuttled. She remained quiet. Joey rolled his eyes at his
girlfriend and walked over to Justin. "Is Brian coming?" he asked, trying
to find a new conversation. Justin looked toward his room and saw Brian
standing in the doorway. He saw the expression on Brian's face and
automatically knew the reply. "Yep, he's coming." Justin grinned. He
waved to Brian, receiving a quaint smile from Brian.
Nick and J.C. walked back down the hall, hand-in-hand. "So
are you two coming?" Howie questioned, seeing a new expression on Nick's
face. J.C. shook his head for a silent reply. Nick pouted a little.
"Josh is tired, so we're going to uhm, stay here tonight." Nick responded
softly as they passed by. "You're staying Nick?" Britney wondered. "Yeah,
I figured I'd turn in with this silly goof." Nick answered her.
J.C. giggled quietly, leading Nick to his room. "Oh I bet you will." Brian
grinned mischeviously toward them. Nick gave Brian the middle finger with
a smirk. "Never Nickie." Brian cooed as Nick and J.C. slipped away to
J.C.'s room.
Within a half hour's time, Howie, A.J., Meelah, Joey,
Justin, Chris, Britney and Brian were at The Purple Lounge. They reserved
themselves a small booth in the back of the club with heavy security to
watch them. The club goers seemed to get wind of the group appearing at
the club as a huge crowd spectated outside and inside. Everyone ignored
the special attention and went about their own personal activites.
Howie, Britney and Joey took their positions on the
dancefloor and A.J. took his at the bar. Brian, Justin, Meelah and Chris
found a spot at the booth to become comfortable. "I hope no one notices
A.J. sipping on a beer at the bar." Chris laughed, pointing out their
friend as he stayed lonesome. Meelah kept her eyes on Brian and Justin
would tried to flirt without anyone seeing. "You two should have stayed at
the hotel if that's what you wanted to do." Meelah commented, seeing how
they held hands under the table. "What do you mean?" Justin grinned,
feeling Brian's foot rub against his leg. Meelah rolled her eyes and then
laughed. She looked over to Chris who was caught up in the fast paced
movements on the floor. "If you want to dance, say so." Meelah insisted,
trying to cause a conversation to be born. Chris turned to her, smiling
dumbly. "I don't know if I can keep up with you." Chris teased her.
Meelah pushed him lightly, trying to make him fall out of the booth.
Britney and Joey approached the booth, sweating heavily.
"It's a packed house tonight." Joey panted out, holding onto his
girlfriend. Britney agreed with her nod. "I need a drink." Joey called
out, making Britney elbow him. "You don't need any beer boy." Britney
gasped, trying to catch her breath. Joey ignored her heed. "Marc, could
you get me a Bud Light?" Joey requested. The security guard gave him a
funny look and then agreed. "My name isn't Nick and I can get what I
want." he assured her, dancing to the beat of Jay Z's 'Can I Get A...'.
Britney eased off him and sat down in the booth. "You're grown, act like
an asshole." Britney hissed at him. Justin gave Joey a disappointed look,
causing him to walk away from the booth.
"Bastard." she grumbled, slouching in the booth. Justin
slipped his arm around Britney for comfort. Brian released Justin's hand
and let him assist his friend. "Oh my gosh, can me and my friends get an
autograph?!" a woman of twenty seemed to appear at the booth with two
friends. Chris looked up quickly, seeing them. "And maybe a hug?" one
spoke up from the back. "I thought they weren't dating." a voice whispered
but still loud enough for them to hear. Justin sighed loudly and sat up in
the booth. "Name?" he asked arrogantly, grabbing a pen from one of the
girls. "Lisa." the front one said, smiling impishly. Britney stood from
the booth and excused herself from the girls. "Wow, she's being a bitch."
the 'whispering' one commented. "Maybe she's doesn't want to give you her
autograph Donna." Lisa barked at her. Donna adjusted her tube top and
passed her friend's comment off as a way to flirt with Justin. "She's just
tired." Justin covered for Britney as he signed a napkin. He glanced past
the girls to try and find his friend.
Chris became shy around the girls, trying not to draw
attention to Meelah. "Is that your girlfriend?" Donna asked boldly,
looking directly at Meelah. Meelah sat proudly and placed her hand on top
of Chris's. "Yes, I am Chris's girlfriend. It's nice to meet you girls."
Meelah said with a nice and smooth tone. "I guess you were right then
Mary." Donna groaned, looking away from Meelah. 'Bitch.' Meelah thought in
her mind as she stared at Donna. "Can I have your autograph too?" Lisa
requested, passing her the napkin Justin signed. Meelah was surprised by
her request. She shrugged and penned her name to the napkin. "You're
really nice. I wish all the girlfriends were like you." Lisa made nice
with Meelah. Meelah passed her the napkin and replied, "Thanks. I hope
that all the fans are as nice to me as you are." Lisa gleamed.
"Hey Justin, I thought you and Britney weren't an item?
What's up? Cheating on your girlfriend?" Donna remarked. Justin looked at
her as if she was the rudist person he had ever met. "Hey sweetheart, did
you want me to sign something?" Chris tried to cover for Justin and keep
Brian's temper low. Donna looked over to him with wonder. "No, but can I
have a hug?" she requested, smirking flirtatiously. Chris stood and
agreed. "Is Joey here?" Mary finally spoke up. She had the question
burning in her. "Yes, he's around here." Justin answered her. He glanced
over to Brian who seemed away from everyone. "Howie and A.J. are here
too." Brian added for her.
Mary looked around quickly, searching for Joey. Her eyes
spotted Joey and Britney by the bar, kissing. Her face qrinkled in
disgust. "Damn." she groaned. Justin looked out of the booth and saw the
two at the bar. "That's what you get for wanting him girl. You need
someone cute and single like Brian." Donna's words slide like a sharp
tongue. Her country accent was mild, but heard. Brian looked at her and
then smiled. "Would you sign my shirt?" she requested. Justin crinkled
his nose and then scooted out of the booth. "I'm going to the dance
floor." he announced so that Brian could hear him. Brian looked over at
him while Donna kept her eyes on him.
Brian thought over his options while Donna made seductive
expressions in his direction. He finally slid out of the booth, deciding
to join Justin. "I guess I can dance a little." Brian lied, knowing he
wanted to dance with Justin. "Can I have one dance?" Lisa asked Brian
shyly. "Sure, you can dance with both of us." Justin laughed, grabbing her
hand. Brian laughed with him, snatching up Lisa's other hand and leading
her to the dance floor. Donna cursed loudly toward her friend as she
walked off. Lisa did not hear her words as she danced to 'It's True' with
Brian and Justin. Her friends watched her enviously as she danced with the
gorgeous duo. "I knew we should have grabbed A.J. when we had the chance."
Donna commented to Mary. "Girl, it's all about the connections." Mary
sighed out as their New York night began to come to a close.
THE END.